Ferris State University's (FSU's) Collegiate Skills Program assists academically underprepared students in their transition to college. The program was initiatied in fall 1985 in response to increasing numbers of entering freshmen with inadequate reading and writing skills and subsequent high rates of attrition. Focusing initially on students with high school grade point average of less than 2.0, the program provided the following: an intake interview to review students' high school records and achievement test scores; pre-enrollment counseling to clarify program expectations and assess students' attitudes toward college; an assessment of students' basic skills in reading, writing, and mathematics; credit-bearing courses in math and study skills, and paired reading and writing courses; a learning laboratory; an exit interview with a counselor if students decided to change their curriculum or withdraw from the program; and competency-based instruction and flexible completion strategies. Results from the first year of program operations indicated that it was possible to both increase students' reading, math, and English proficiencies in as little as 30 weeks, and to improve student retention while maintaining academic standards. Data from the three years of operation of the project suggest that virtually every student who persists for up to three terms in the College Skills Program will reach competency in reading and writing and will be able to handle freshman-level course content. (AYC)