This paper reviews the professional counseling literature of the past 45 years and examines the implications of these studies for the future roles of university counseling centers. The research reviewed consists primarily of investigations of the following issues: (1) the problems students experience and present to counseling centers; (2) student usage of counseling centers; (3) the functions and services of counseling centers; and (4) the theoretical problems defining and describing the roles of counseling centers. Parallels between the changing roles of counseling centers and concomitant changes in the field of counseling psychology are drawn. The literature review is divided into three time periods (1932-55, 1955-70, and 1970-80), which reflect major changes in the roles of counseling centers. The final section identifies patterns in the research and discusses implications. (Author/CS)