As a result of the financial difficulties faced by independent colleges in the northwestern United States, the Northwest Area Foundation in 1972 surveyed the administrations of 80 private colleges to get a profile of the colleges, a list of their current problems, and some indication of how the problems might be approached. The three top problems given were decreasing enrollment, financial aid to students that decreased resources, and increasing instructional costs. The foundation set up three programs, each designed to cope with one of these financial needs: (1) the admissions and retention program, to help colleges find ways to increase tuition income by increasing or maintaining enrollment; (2) the deferred gifts program, to generate more long-range contributed income by providing specialists in soliciting stocks, bonds, real estate, and other gifts; and (3) the productivity program, to find less costly ways of teaching and learning while maintaining educational quality. (MSE)