The Preventive Coping Resources Inventory (PRI) was developed to assess specific coping resources most useful for stress prevention and also applicable to education settings. Undergraduates (N=501) at a large, southwestern university completed the inventory and other measures of adjustment and coping. Exploratory factor analysis revealed five factors that underlay the inventory were perceived control, maintaining perspective, social resourcefulness, humor, and organization. An additional cross-over factor, self-acceptance, was also retained. Evidence for the convergent and discriminant validity of the PRI was provided by theoretically consistent relationships with related constructs such as self-efficacy, general coping resources, and coping strategies. Evidence for its criterion-related validity was supported by hierarchical regression analyses in which scales from the PRI predicted perceived stress levels after controlling for the incidence of negative life events. Suggestions for future research and applications to educational settings are discussed. (Contains 47 references and 6 tables.) (Author/JDM)