By the late 1960s, the most offered courses in American community colleges were remedial reading, remedial writing, and remedial arithmetic. The success of the early efforts in community colleges was marginal at best, as is evidenced by a 1968 study indicating that nearly 90 percent of all remedial students failed or dropped out of remedial courses. By 1977, however, the first national study of American college and university programs for low-achieving students revealed that some programs were achieving success. A national study of college and university programs was conducted in 1982 to discover the magnitude, nature, and level of success of literacy and basic skills programs. Based on this survey, it appears that successful remedial programs exhibit the following 11 characteristics: strong administrative support, mandatory counseling and placement, structured courses, award of credit, flexible completion strategies, multiple learning systems, volunteer instructors, use of peer tutors, monitoring of student behaviors, interfacing with subsequent courses, and program evaluation. The successful programs that were isolated during the study can serve as models that document the learning potentials and capabilities of community college students. (MN)