The Personalized System of Instruction (PSI), a system that combines the strengths of basic learning, individual instruction, and personalized relationships, all at low cost, is an attractive alternative for the basic speech communication course. It involves mastery learning, self-pacing, stress on the written word, instructor assistants, and the use of lectures to motivate rather than to supply essential information. A PSI course covering the same content as a traditional basic course would divide the course into eight units of instruction: (1) Nature of Human Communication, (2) Public Speaking: Developing the Public Presentation, (3) Public Speaking: Informative and Persuasive Presentations, (4) Analyzing and Receiving Communication, (5) Nature of Language and Its Social Influence, (6) Nonverbal Communication, (7) Relational Communication, and (8) Small Group Communication. In a time of rising enrollments and shrinking resources, PSI is less expensive than traditional methods, more attractive to students, a learning experience for instructor assistants, and helpful to departments seeking lower costs, more majors, and staff flexibility. Only the self-pacing feature and the difficulty of planning small group or experiential learning are potential limitations. (JL)