This study examined the performance of Oregon University System (OUS) students on 10th grade benchmark standards and subsequent performance in their first year of college. Participants, identified using 1999-00 state data from the Oregon Department of Education, included students who participated in state assessment while in high school and subsequently enrolled in an OUS institution or Oregon community college in fall 2001 as first-time freshmen. Overall, performance at the 10th grade benchmark was closely aligned with freshman year college performance. Students who met or exceeded the standard at 10th grade benchmark levels were more likely to earn a higher grade point average (GPA) in related college courses. There was a positive relationship among state assessments, high school GPA, college GPA, and the SAT I. Students' performance on the combined 10th grade benchmark assessments (reading, writing, math problem solving, and math knowledge and skills) and the SAT I correlated with first-year college GPA at comparable levels. Each of the four 10th grade benchmark assessments were early indicators of overall college GPA at the end of the first year of college. Results indicate that the 10th grade benchmark performance can serve as a planning tool for the last 2 years of high school. (Contains over 25 tables of data.) (SM)