First-year students face a number of problems in adjusting to college and university life. This study investigated the academic achievement of students who had successfully completed freshman orientation through a first-year experience program. The term "first-year experience" will be used interchangeably with "first-year orientation" and "first-year seminar." The three major components of this study were (a) students' general characteristics, which included age, gender, race/ethnicity, and socioeconomic status; (b) students' academic characteristics, which included high school grade point average (HSGPA) and scholastic aptitude test (SAT) scores (both verbal and quantitative); and (c) students' responses to the three parts of the Freshman Orientation/First-Year Experience Program Participant Survey to determine their assessment of their participation, focus, and recommendations. These components were considered along with the students' academic achievement, as measured by the students' freshman-year grade point average (GPA). The sample consisted of 54 respondents who completed the survey: 17 males, 34 females, and 3 others. The overwhelming majority of the students were African American. The mean age of the sample was 29. Seventy-three percent of the sample had an SAT score from 700 to 950 (m = 868). Fifty-six percent of the students had an HSGPA of 3.0 or higher. Two-thirds of the students had an annual income between $30,000 and $39,000. An evaluation of the data suggested a nontraditional student, who is older than the traditional 18-year-old. There was an expectation that there would be a significant relationship between students' general characteristics and their academic achievement; however, current data suggest that these students, perhaps because they are older and more mature, have developed life skills that have supported their transitional experiences to college life. All data were coded and entered into a database. The categorical independent variable gender was coded 1 = male and 0 = female. Frequencies were calculated for the data. Multiple regression analysis was used to predict first-year GPA (dependent variable) from a group of regressors (independent variables). The stepwise method was used to build the model. Predictors were included in the equation if they significantly (p = 0.05) added to the dependent variable. Summary: Orientation programs have become essential to students' successful completion of their first-year experiences at institutions of higher education. While these data did not show significant differences between freshman orientations, the information learned from the Freshman Orientation/First-Year Experience Program Participant Survey suggested that students who participated gained valuable benefits from the program, such as having better time management skills, developing better peer relationships, and understanding available campus resources. First-year orientation programs are invaluable resources for first-time college students. Colleges and universities that are able to invest resources in these programs stand much to gain in ways of student persistence and retention. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://bibliotheek.ehb.be:2222/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]