Perspectives on university-level studies and factors that affect student performance are considered, based on experiences and research conducted at the University of Bergen, Norway, and the University of Birmingham, England. Topics include the following: student goals; the use of lectures for larger groups; the importance of early feedback; factors affecting student success or failure; the transition from school to university; preparation at the sixth form level; prescriptions to moderate academic anxiety at the university; prescriptions for tutoring and research; the skills of teachers and the relationship between students and teachers; the degree of similarity of goals held by students and teachers; the link between a sense of learning competence and emotional well being; how disenchantment of the student occurs; characteristics of students who are prone to disenchantment; how to reduce the impact of disenchantment; psychological tests and the prediction of academic ability; components of learning competence; the dynamics of personal, social, and educational influences; the first examinations at the university; the development of academic skills in a short-term perspective; motivational effects of a test examination; assisting students in study difficulties; an educational service for learning how to learn; the cost of educational counseling services; reducing student attrition; and study methods in the sixth form and at the university. A bibliography is appended. (SW)