A study skills course offered through Project Start, a summer program for high-risk incoming college freshmen at Ball State University, Indiana, is described. While primarily designed for students who were denied regular admission because of low high-school rank and low Scholastic Aptitude Test scores, the program also allows previously academically disqualified students to demonstrate that they can earn at least a C average in an academically challenging program. Major topics addressed in the study techniques course include: modifying study behavior and increasing motivation to learn; a theory of verbal learning based on cognitive psychology; effective reading; benefiting from lectures, textbooks, and other media; special study techniques (e.g., mnemonics); test wiseness; and writing course papers and exams. Students are allowed to practice study techniques with materials from their courses. The Survey of Study Habits and Attitudes (SSHA) is administered to students during the first and last weeks of the term. SSHA informs students of ways that their personal study habits and attitudes differ from those of students who earn high grades. Students in the study skills class receive feedback on their pretest and posttest SSHA scores. Student scores on the SSHA subscales for 1986 are discussed. (SW)