A longitudinal study designed to test hypotheses about the relationships between academic achievement, cognitive styles, and verbal competence is described. One entire class of 1,548 students of a large municipal college was followed from college entry in 1967 through entry into postgraduate and occupational training. Data were taken from tests, questionnaires, and academic records of the entire student group, and from an intensive battery of tests administered to 100 students from the original group. The various cognitive styles (field-dependent or field-independent) and their relation to choice of major and academic careers as well as postgraduate careers are described. The objectives of the study include: (1) examination of the influence of cognitive styles on academic progress; (2) examination of the influence of patterns of students' standing in the various cognitive styles on postgraduate study; (3) determination of the degree to which academic choices at the high school level are predictive of academic functioning in college and graduate school; (4) study of the effect upon various aspects of college evolution of a marked discrepancy in the level of functioning to determine the sources of cognitive style development; (5) examination of the role of cognitive styles in the verbal functioning of students who appear no different in standard tests of verbal ability. The results are presented in four sections and numerous tables provide statistical information. An extensive bibliography is included. (BH)