The effects of a new curriculum, introduced at Hiram College in 1969, which emphasized interdisciplinary studies, increased freedom and responsibility, and eliminated traditional graduation requirements in favor of nondepartmental courses, more electives, and more individual faculty attention for freshman, were studied. The research strategy was to compare the development during college of old and new curriculum students in the areas of (1) satisfaction with various aspects of the college; (2) intellectual, social, and emotional attitudes and values; and (3) academic achievement in English and in traditional general education fields. The data were collected over a three-year period, using the 9-item Satisfaction with Hiram Scales, the Omnibus Personality Inventory (OPI), CEEB English Achievement, and five Survey of College Achievement scales. Three freshman groups, one old curriculum and two new curriculum, were tested for satisfaction and English achievement before and at the end of the freshman year. In addition, attitude and achievement scores of the last group to spend two years under the old curriculum were compared with corresponding scores of the first group to finish two years under the new program. Only standards admissions data were available as input measures for the old curriculum students. Study results showed that: there was significantly less disillusion and more year-end satisfaction with the new program among freshmen; new program sophomores were higher than the old on several OPI "intellectual" disposition scales and felt better adjusted than did the old group; new program freshmen scored higher on English achievement than did the old group; and new group sophomores scored as high as the old in five traditional academic areas. (See ED 059 695 for study final report.) (DB)