Cooperative education programs that operated in 1974-1975 were identified and their status by 1981-1982 was investigated. General characteristics of program growth that might indicate the structural and organizational correlates of longevity and stability were assessed. Attention was directed to two- and four-year colleges that were not federally funded, as well as to institutions whose cooperative education programs were federally supported. Data from a 1975 directory of grant recipients were obtained for 860 programs. Based on an 8-year profile of reported student enrollment, these programs were divided into five growth groups (discontinued, increased, decreased, fluctuating, and stable). A second research agenda was to determine institutional characteristics, the history and nature of cooperative education, and general information about the community. Questionnaires were sent to 612 institutions still offering cooperative education in 1982 as well as to 296 colleges with discontinued programs, and a total of 312 usable responses were obtained. Finally, data were collected on the kind of award, the years involved, and the dollar amounts. It was found that 34.4 percent of the programs that had been operating in 1974-1975 had been discontinued by 1982-1983. A questionnaire is appended. (SW)