Based on a 3-year case study of an open-access community college, this monograph examines the background, causes, and possible resolutions for the decline of literacy in open-access colleges. Chapter 1 presents a working definition of literacy, considers the nature of literacy in a community college setting, and raises issues concerning the impact of the decline of college standards on the student, institution, and society. Chapter 2 describes the curriculum, administration, faculty, and students of the college studied to illustrate the complex, dynamic character of the study setting. After chapter 3 provides a detailed description of teaching and learning in the classroom, chapter 4 looks at reading and writing behaviors required in class activities. Chapter 5 discusses the educational objectives of the college instructors, with a focus on the relationship of course objectives to instructor style, the emphasis on cognitive objectives in the classroom, faculty response to low student literacy skills, and the reciprocal effects of student skills and teacher objectives. In chapter 6, student motives for pursuing education are examined along with the way the institution reinforced and responded to these motives. Chapter 7 examines non-classroom influences contributing to the lack of literacy skills, including inadequate advisement, student placement problems, and special services for non-traditional students. After chapter 8 considers the indirect impact of administrative priorities on classroom literacy, chapter 9 discusses the implications of study findings for administration and instruction in open-access colleges and offers recommendations for promoting literacy. (LAL)