The nature and strength of college culture were studied, along with how culture is related to perceptions of organizational performance. Data were obtained from a study conducted by the National Center for Higher Education Management Systems (NCHEMS). Questions of method, especially the validity of aggregating perceptual data to the organizational level, are examined and assessed. A questionnaire administered to trustees, administrators, and faculty required them to indicate the extent to which their colleges showed characteristics associated with each of four ideal cultural types along four dimensions: institutional characteristics, institutional leadership, institutional cohesion, and institutional emphases. The four ideal cultural types were: market, clan, hierarchy, and emergent. The survey of 334 colleges and universities produced responses from 1,321 administrators, 1,158 faculty, and 927 trustees for an overall response rate of 48%. Constructs measured by the survey include: changes in the institution's external environment, decreasing enrollments, decreasing revenues, institutional characteristics, institutional strategy and decision process, and performance and actions of the institution. The results suggest that cultural strength and type are clearly related to perceptions of organizational performance. Specific findings are analyzed, and the questionnaire is appended. (SW)