This study tested a series of hypotheses linking college support and quality of student-instructor relations with outcomes including student efficacy, social connectedness with peers, expectancies and academic performance. Early quality of exchanges with the instructor using Leader-Member Exchange theory was found to be a key indicator of academic outcomes. In addition, perceived organisational support was linked to ratings of instructor-student quality of exchanges, and the quality of exchanges between instructors and students served as an antecedent to social integration and academic self-concept. Academic self-concept was found to correlate with early perceptions of academic performance which, in turn, predicted students' actual academic performance. Implications of this research include support for individualised rather than universal communication and interactions between instructors and students, development of relationships at the dyadic rather than group levels, and leadership as a means to develop student performance in a classroom setting.