In 1990, a study was conducted of telecommunications in Washington State community colleges. The study focused on the quality of telecourses, current telecourse offerings, current and future plans for community college use of teleconferences, and innovations in telecommunications beyond telecourses. Data were gathered from four sources: administrative records in the state's student management information system; a survey of 1,185 students enrolled in video and telecourses at 11 of the 15 colleges offering telecourses in fall 1989; a survey of deans of instruction to determine the colleges' motives for offering or not offering telecourses; and a review of the literature on telecourses. Study findings, based on survey responses from 480 students and all of the deans of instruction, included the following: (1) 16 community colleges offered from 2 to 50 telecourses each year, enrolling a total of 366 full-time equivalent students in 1988-89; (2) 70% of the students took telecourses in preference to regular classes; (3) telecourse students were slightly older than other community college students, 64% were female, and the racial/ethnic background of the students responding was similar to that of the state population; (4) students gave high ratings to the quality of the telecourses, with 90% indicating that telecourses were an effective way to learn and that they would recommend telecourses to their friends; (5) 12 colleges were planning to initiate or expand telecourse offerings in the next 3 years; and (6) 15 colleges used national video-teleconference networks for faculty/staff in-service training, business training, and community groups. Appendixes include the two survey instruments and a 37-item bibliography. (JMC)