This paper argues that the immediate reason for the decline in literacy in our colleges is the shift from an emphasis on the traditional discipline required in construction to an emphasis on spontaneity in writing. Of the four phases of the creative process (preparation, incubation, illumination, and verification), only verification should be emphasized in college writing classes. Verification is defined as the phase dependent on reasoning and judgment and involving the expansion of the illumination in order to ensure its communication. A program for freshman English students who enter college without the basic language and communication skills is described. The course meets two days a week in a writing laboratory, two days in a reading laboratory, and one day in a speech laboratory. Minimal standards for the reading and writing sections of the course are determined, and any student who fails to meet the standards for either of the disciplines must repeat the course. (TS)