Three different projects, undertaken during 1968-1975 and focusing on problems connected with reforms in Swedish higher education and particularly in the Faculties of Arts and Sciences, are reported. The first project was part of the research program initiated by the University Admittance Requirements Committee to serve as a basis for suggestions concerning college admission. It considered the relationship between results at the university and previous school achievement and test results for about 1,000 students during their first year of study. A second project focused on the problem of internal efficiency in the Faculties of Arts and Sciences. Two different populations at the University of Umea were kept under continual observation with regard to examination results, the amount of time devoted to study, dropouts and delays in studies. In the third study the relevance of educational programs and students' educational careers was investigated. Implications of all three of these projects are discussed. Both the analysis of the literature and the empirical analyses have shown the need for developing methods for registering, describing, and treating qualitative factors of an educational program. (LBH)