The effectiveness of the Plattsburgh Freshman Seminar program, which was designed to increase student retention, was evaluated. The 45 hour, three credit program was designed to help students clarify educational and personal goals, to increase faculty-student contact, to develop communication skills, and to familiarize the student with the curriculum. A sample of first-time freshmen students entering the 1980 fall semester at the State University of New York at Plattsburgh was studied. The study population consisted of 205 Freshman Seminar students and 205 comparison group students, who followed the regular curriculum with no special programming. The effects of entering student characteristics, initial attitudes, curricular goals and participation in the seminar were tested at the end of the first semester. Pre-college demographic and personal data were also collected. Students participating in the seminar reported significant contact with faculty and an enhancement of writing and oral skills. The other program goals were not affected by program participation. It is suggested that goals, values, and interests may take time to develop and change, and that the study was limited by measuring retention at the end of the first semester. Implications for retention policies and for further research are considered. (SW)