In recent years thousands of minority persons who were previously denied access to primarily white, U.S. institutions of higher education have enrolled in them. Many institutions initiated special programs designed to compensate for academic skill problems observed in some of these new students. The effect of these programs on student retention is an important area of concern, but in the 1980s some researchers have avoided the special program issue by demonstrating that one can identify, through a set of noncognitive variables, which minority students are likely to remain in college through graduation. Some of these variables, such as positive self-concept, realistic self-appraisal and the ability to delay gratification, have been recognized for a long time. Others, such as understanding and dealing with racism, and preference for long-term over short-term goals also have important academic consequences. A workshop has been developed to train counselors, advisors, teachers, and other personnel in higher education to make diagnostic referrals for minority students using noncognitive variables. Workshop participants review case materials and do simulated interviews. They are given information on interviewing and identifying student behaviors associated with each noncognitive variable. Results from participants' evaluations indicated that they understood the noncognitive variables and could identify them from written materials and interviews. (ABL)