A study was conducted in 1969-1970 to determine the policies for the acquisition and termination of academic tenure and the procedures used to implement these policies in state universities and land-grant colleges. Eighty institutions were studied, and the investigation was based on the official publications or statements obtained from them. It is concluded from the results of the study that: (1) policies and procedures vary in degrees of completeness, clarity, and perfection; (2) tenure plans of the institutions are as diverse as American higher education itself; (3) a comparison of the present results with those of previous studies shows improvement in policies and procedures; (4) the rank at which faculty members are eligible for tenure has not changed significantly since earlier studies; (5) probationary periods have not changed significantly since earlier studies; (6) the higher the academic rank, the larger the percentage of tenured faculty; (7) the 30 percent of responses indicating that data are not available shows a serious deficiency in recordkeeping of tenure termination proceedings and faculty dismissals; (8) tenure termination cases are not frequent in these institutions; and (9) the tenure termination rate during the study was higher in some institutions than in others. (MSE)