Oakes College at the University of California Santa Cruz (UCSC) is a residential liberal arts college for individuals from minority groups, "new students" who are from poverty backgrounds or are the first in their families to go to college, and women re-entering school. These students are more likely to need remedial or tutorial help than their counterparts in other UCSC colleges. Curriculum focuses on the experience of ethnic minorities in the United States, and on science. Oakes College offers first-year basic skills courses in writing, mathematics, computer literacy, and study skills; these courses serve as links for students between their pre-collegiate experience and self-identification in their new university experience. The intensive lower-division science program is geared to the needs of "new students"; courses in biology, chemistry, and mathematics are designed to feed students into campus-wide majors at appropriate points. Since faculty members, many of whom are women and/or members of minority groups, serve as teachers, role models, and student counselors (with possible detriment to academic research work and professional development), a support program provides released time for individual endeavors. Tables on the changing demographic profile in California are appended, illustrating the educational needs which gave rise to the founding of Oakes College. (JD)