Persistence rates and College Level Academic Skills Test (CLAST) passing rates are the two outcome measures most often used to assess success at Miami-Dade Community College (MDCC). A study was conducted to examine these two measures for comparative groups of students whose performance on the basic skills assessment measure ranged from passing no tests to passing all tests, and who subsequently satisfactorily completed college preparatory instruction in none or all of the areas. First-time-in-college students from the fall 1982 term were chosen for the study. Study findings included the following: (1) students who completed college preparatory courses in all areas for which they were underprepared had the same persistence rates as students without skills deficiencies; (2) the persistence rate for students below the placement score on all three tests ranged from 10% for those who took no college preparatory work to 46% for those who completed work in all three deficiency areas; (3) underprepared students took longer to complete their education; (4) students completing college preparatory courses in the areas in which they had skill deficiencies had a higher CLAST passing rate (81%) than those who did not complete college preparatory classes (56%); and (5) students who successfully completed all necessary college preparatory classes had the same 3-year persistence rates as students who began with no skill deficiencies. A discussion of the implications of the findings is included and data tables are appended. (EJV)