The relationship between vocabulary development with comprehension and the reading process has been carefully studied and clarified--but little research has been conducted into the vocabulary demands of the academic disciplines. In spite of this, many colleges have devised courses in content area vocabulary development, even though the relevance and transfer effects of such courses have not been verified. In addition, most vocabulary textbooks seem to emphasize a structural analysis approach to vocabulary and if they include references to content area vocabulary at all, these references are haphazard. To remedy this problem, a data collecting process was developed at California State University (Fullerton), where approximately 600 students are enrolled each semester in developmental vocabulary courses. Each semester, these students select words used in their academic courses. To date, these data include roughly 3,000 entries, which have been coded and categorized according to a number of criteria. The data are now available for use in vocabulary classes for relevant study and as a service to various departments on the campus. (FL)