A study was conducted to compare the reading levels of beginning students in a two-year community college with the readability levels of the materials they are required to read in selected courses. Subjects, all the students enrolled at an open door community college in Tampa (Florida), took the Nelson-Denny Reading test. Readability levels of thirteen textbooks used in courses at the college were analyzed by the Dale-Chall formula (1948). Results showed that the students' mean vocabulary score was 12.9 and the mean comprehension score was 11.1; that five of the textbooks have a readability level of 16+, four have a readability level of 13-15, three have a readability level of 11-12, and one has a readability level of 7-8; and that, when comparing reading levels and readability levels and employing a one-year differential, only one text--the literature anthology--would be a functional instructional tool. There thus appears to be a gross discrepancy between reading levels of junior college students and the readability levels of their assigned textbooks. (JM)