Information on Bowie State College (Maryland), its students, and the performance of participants in the Special Services Project is presented to demonstrate a need for the project in 1986. After briefly describing the college and its goals, a literature review addresses the need for special services for specific student groups. Bowie State College has historically served low-income, black, first-generation college students and the disabled. The Bowie State College's Special Services for Disadvantaged Students Project has served students who have special needs generated by poverty, lack of adequate role models, poor academic skills, inadequate social and personal skills, learning disabilities, and physical disabilities. Data are provided on: student attrition by entering class, 1975-1984, including the graduation rate for Special Services participants; headcount enrollment, 1975-1985; undergraduate and graduate student enrollment by race; student enrollment by age; residency of full-time and part-time undergraduates; credit hours of enrollment by discipline for 1985-1986; degrees awarded during 1964-1985; the number of dependent and independent undergraduates by income range; and Scholastic Aptitude Test scores (for Bowie, the state average, and the national average). (SW)