In 1972, the board of regents of the university system of Georgia directed that a testing program be established to provide information on the status of student competence in the areas of reading and writing. In addition, the program was to provide a uniform means of identifying those students who fail to attain minimum levels of competence expected of graduates in these areas. This paper describes the instrument and the grading procedure; reviews the related literature; examines the relationship between student background characteristics, college variables, and performance on the examination; explores predictability of student performance; and presents the implications for higher education. A list of references and tables of findings are included. (JM)