The federally funded Special Services for Disadvantaged Students (SSDS) program is examined for the 1979-80 academic year in 58 institutions; the program's short-term impact on participating freshmen is summarized. Up to 200 students at each site were studied to determine whether program participation levels correlated with outcomes and whether student background was related to the levels of services received. After an overview and a review of the study methodology, Chapter 3 discusses the SSDS program in terms of federal regulations, reauthorization, budgeting, funding, and monitoring. In Chapter 4 the program's context, history, resources, and administrative procedures are examined. Chapter 5 covers the interactions between programs and institutions, followed in Chapter 6 by an overview of services. The characteristics of eligible students and their relationships to services rendered are addressed in Chapter 7. Among the conclusions are: (1) SSDS services are focused, as intended, on economically and educationally deprived students; (2) SSDS students are more likely to last through freshman year than students not receiving SSDS services; (3) most project directors are experienced and usually members of a minority group; (4) the average project has 414 participating students; (5) students having larger amounts of monetary aid tend to have higher levels of persistence; (6) students whose parents had higher incomes tend to take and complete more courses and to receive higher grades; and (7) students receiving more services are likely to complete more courses. Extensive tables, figures, and appendices are provided, giving data on percentages of students and faculty by race, staff turnover rate, administrators' perception of SSDS academic credibility, etc. (LC)