Fifty-five colleges that require graduating students to pass a writing proficiency examination were surveyed as to the form and nature of their examinations and the formal preparation and follow-up procedures offered to students taking the examinations. The examination formats fall into three broad categories: 62% are essay only, 31% are essay plus objective tests, and 2% are standardized, machine scored tests. Half the colleges reported that over 70% of their students pass on the first try. Seventy-five percent of the schools use a holistic scoring technique for evaluating exams. The survey revealed that the recent interest in writing proficiency requirements is creating renewed interest in the writing lab as an important campus resource. Ninety percent of the schools have a writing lab, and approximately 20% of those require students who fail the writing proficiency exam to attend a writing lab or workshop. These data suggest that the writing center/lab should do more than provide basic skill training in writing. Rather, the lab can serve as a resource for the entire faculty, helping them deal more effectively with writing problems in all disciplines by providing (1) writing across the curriculum seminars, (2) faculty training workshops in diagnostic procedures, (3) diagnostic materials and composition exercises supported by research on the relationship between cognitive development and writing ability, and (4) materials and workshops on problems confronting writers at all levels of writing ability. (HTH)