REPORTED HERE ARE EVALUATIVE FINDINGS OF FACTORS CONTRIBUTING TO THE SUCCESS OR FAILURE OF HIGHER EDUCATION FOR SOUTHWESTERN INDIANS. DATA PREVIOUSLY COLLECTED BY GOVERNMENT AGENCIES, INDIAN TRIBES, AND OTHERS WERE COLLECTED AND ORGANIZED FOR ANALYSIS. INTERVIEWS AND QUESTIONNAIRES WERE THEN USED TO OBTAIN DATA FROM 43 HIGHER EDUCATION INSTITUTIONS AND FROM LEADERS OF 37 TRIBES. INDIANS ENROLLED DURING THE 1958 PERIOD WERE ALSO CONTACTED. METHODS USED TO AWARD INDIAN SCHOLARSHIPS WERE CATALOGED FOR COMPARISON WITH INDICATED RELIABLE PREDICTORS OF INDIAN ACADEMIC SUCCESS. A CONTROL GROUP OF 50 NON-INDIAN COLLEGE STUDENTS WAS USED. ANALYSIS CONSISTED PRIMARILY OF DETERMINING FREQUENCY COUNTS OF CATEGORIZED RESPONSES ON DATA COLLECTION INSTRUMENTS INCLUDED IN A SUPPLEMENTAL REPORT (ED 002 996). PEARSON PRODUCT-MOMENT CORRELATIONS WERE USED TO DETERMINE DEGREES OF RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN 69 PREDICTION VARIABLES AND GRADE POINT AVERAGES. A LITERATURE SEARCH INDICATED THAT LITTLE COMPREHENSIVE RESEARCH HAS BEEN PERFORMED IN THE FIELD OF INDIAN EDUCATION. ONLY FIVE CASES OF FUNDED RESEARCH IN VARIOUS STAGES OF COMPLETION WERE DISCOVERED. ONLY 15 COLLEGES REPORTED COURSES IN INDIAN EDUCATION. OF THESE, 12 WERE OFFERED AT ARIZONA STATE UNIVERSITY. FREQUENCIES OF NUMEROUS FACTORS RELATED TO INDIAN STUDENT SUCCESS OR FAILURE ARE REPORTED WITH 23 SEPARATE CONCLUSIONS. FIFTY-TWO REFERENCES ARE INCLUDED IN THE BIBLIOGRAPHY. RECOMMENDATIONS FOR SCHOLARSHIP-GRANTING AGENCIES AND INDIAN TRIBAL LEADERS ARE PRESENTED ALONG WITH RECOMMENDATIONS FOR ELEMENTARY AND HIGH SCHOOLS, COLLEGES, AND UNIVERSITIES WITH LARGE INDIAN ENROLLMENTS. (WN)