In January 1983, a study was conducted to determine the level of commitment of community colleges throughout the United States to the philosophy of open door access to enrollment. A questionnaire was mailed to each state director of community college education to determine whether the state had a formal commitment to an open door admissions policy, whether the commitment was made policy in a written document, and whether the policy had legal status. In addition, the officials were asked to cite widely reported statements on the open door concept within the state; to indicate the budgetary factors impeding open door admissions; and to answer questions regarding the role of enrollment projections in the budgetary process. Study findings, based on responses from 37 states, included the following: (1) 30 states had a formal commitment to the establishment and maintenance of an open door admissions policy to the community colleges, and in 29 states this commitment was contained in a written document; (2) in 10 states legal status was given to this commitment through statute, in 21 states by administrative regulation or policy, in 8 states by precedent and practice, and in 1 state by court ruling; and (3) there appears to be a growing trend to curtail enrollments by means of the budgeting process. The study report provides a state-by-state analysis of survey responses and includes the survey instrument. (HB)