The role of state licensing and approval agencies in providing information to educational consumers prior to their enrollment at an institution was addressed based on a survey of state licensing and approval personnel. Thirty-two states were examined, including officials who were involved in a licensing/approval of degree-granting and proprietary schools and veterans programs. Twenty-five of the states had statutory authority in regard to consumer protection, and two had legislative bills proposed for such statutory authority. Twenty-eight states indicated criteria for licensing or approval that address consumer issues, and 30 indicated action that could be taken if licensed or approved institutions violated the standards. Thirty states cooperate with other consumer agencies, and only two agencies had written procedures for servicing requests for information regarding matters of nonpublic colleges and universities. Thirty states provide information to out-of-state institutions, and 31 of the state agencies, boards, or councils hold meetings that are open to the public and their minutes of meetings are open to public inspection. Among the issues raised by the survey are the following: the question of whether institutions should be required by states to disclose certain basic information to prospective students prior to the collection of any fees and whether administrators of proprietary institutions should be required to meet certain state licensing requirements to conduct an operation within the state. A classification of the surveyed states according to whether the representatives dealt with degree-granting, proprietary, and veterans approval programs is included. (SW)