The problems and promises of very small colleges, those with fewer than 750 students, are examined systematically in this pilot study. Such colleges represent an estimated four or five percent of the nation's undergraduate enrollment. This report is based on preliminary studies of three small colleges. Focus is on what this kind of institution has to offer; economic issues; dynamics of the mid-1970's; common factors (e.g., budget deficits, sources of income, enrollment decline, curriculum offerings, faculty workload and quality, student characteristics); and the issue of viability. It is concluded that these institutions are in much the same difficulty that afflicts much of unendowed private higher education, and that there is nothing inherent in the smallness of an institution that accounts for financial troubles. (LBH)