Reported are the results of a study to determine the reasons as many as 40 percent of the admitted students at some liberal arts colleges leave the campus for a semester or longer before graduation. Information was gathered through responses and records of several thousand persons in the three-year study conducted by five New England colleges and universities (Brown, Hampshire, Trinity, Tufts, and Wheaton) and individuality that characterizes their leave-taking are described, showing how their experiences on leave influence their personal development and continuing education. Comments of hundreds of respondents are given throughout the text, and the full protocols of 96 students are appended. In conclusion, the ways that colleges and universities might be more supportive of these students are outlined, based on the argument that leave-taking expresses developmental needs of young people that are not being met or that are actively frustrated by conditions of life in their schools. (Editor/MSE)