With data obtained from a National Science Foundation Survey on Computers in higher education, the differences in the pattern of costs and usage of computer centers at higher learning institutions on the West Coast and comparative institutions in the rest of the nation were analyzed. Doctoral granting institutions of the West Coast are strikingly different from those of the rest of the nation. In comparison with other institutions, the public doctoral granting institutions of the West Coast are highly dependent on federal funds for their computer centers, think in big terms for expansion, depend on and use federal funds in many computer activities, and have a different usage pattern in some subject areas. Private doctoral institutions also have a greater reliance on federal funds for their computer centers. In many respects, the public West Coast doctoral institutions are closer to the pattern of a private West Coast institution than to equivalent Eastern doctoral granting public institutions. There is great value in analyzing sub-sets since some of the differences between regions, and between public and private institutions are causing distortions in the national pattern. (Author/JY)