A study compared private and public training programs in the Baltimore (Maryland) metropolitan area. Survey instruments were sent to 105 individuals who had been identified as either directing or coordinating a job training program in the Baltimore area. Seventy-six usable survey instruments were returned (a 72 percent response rate). There was considerable agreement among private and public training organizations as to the importance of the skills listed in the first part of the questionnaire. Generic or people-oriented skills were valued most highly by all respondents, with specific job skills receiving a much lower ranking. The private programs did tend to place more value on knowledge of the company's field, working at remote locations, and meeting the pressure of deadlines. The public and private programs were all developed in much the same way (individuals were given projects to develop). Both types of organizations preferred on-the-job and competency-based approaches; however, private programs placed more emphasis on self-instructional materials than did their public counterparts. One area where considerable differences were found was that of communications applications of training materials. Private organizations were more likely to use materials for employee news and information, management communications (to employees), annual meetings, and sales functions, whereas public organizations were more likely to use materials for community relations. Thus, public organizations were more likely to use materials for training, whereas private organizations were more likely to use materials for communications purposes. A greater percentage of private organizations had separate training budgets (69.2 versus 58.3 percent), whereas training budgets were more often subsumed under another line item among public organizations. (MN)