Due to their more diverse populations, urban colleges have different concerns than suburban and rural colleges, and they must provide programs and services specific to those concerns. The question arises as to whether urban college effectiveness can be measured with traditional indicators. The declining test scores in American public schools have led to the concept of "accountability" for performance levels, but the paper proposes that other factors also be included in the evaluation of community colleges, since so many of their students have non-degree objectives. All attendees at three Texas urban colleges are studied, in order to answer the following questions: (1) What are the major reasons students attend urban community colleges? (2) Do these reasons differ among the three colleges studied? and (3) Are there any evaluative factors that should be, but are not, used for these colleges? Results show that 64% of the students were not enrolled in a degree-seeking or academic track, and the largest number of these students, 19% of the total sample, were there for short-term work-related training. Neither sex nor ethnicity were found to be a factor in whether students chose a degree-seeking or non-degree track. The paper suggests that academia needs to recognize this lack of interest in academic credential by many students, and evaluate college performance accordingly. Contains 13 references. (VF)