The purpose of this study was to determine (1) whether beginning typewriting on the community college level should be taught in a five-day-a-week pattern or in a reduced three-day-a-week pattern; (2) what, if any, relationship existed between the achievement level in beginning college typewriting and the following student characteristics: Locus of control, cloze reading comprehension, tapping aptitude, previous typing instruction, age, and typewriter ownership; and (3) if any relationship existed between student achievement level in beginning college typewriting and student characteristics, and was it the same for those students experiencing three class hours of directed instruction weekly as for those students experiencing five class hours of directed instruction weekly. The experiment consisted of a pretest-posttest control group design with 40 community college students randomly assigned into two sections of beginning typewriting. Analyses of covariance and multiple regression analyses were used to test the hypotheses. Findings showed that (1) beginning college typewriting classes meeting five class hours a week did not achieve significantly better than classes meeting three class hours a week on achievement measures of gross words per minute on straight copy; errors per minute, on straight copy; and production points score on a manuscript, a tabulation, and a letter; (2) no significant relationship existed between the achievement level in beginning college typewriting and any of the student characteristics measured; (3) there was a significant relationship, although a marginal one, between student achievement level in beginning college typewriting and student characteristics for those students experiencing three class hours of directed instruction weekly. (LAS)