A study was conducted at the City University of New York (CUNY) to investigate graduation and persistence over a 5-year period among students enrolled as freshmen in fall 1980, and to compare findings with a previous study of fall 1978 freshmen. The study drew from routine information on high school background; scores on CUNY skills assessment examinations in reading, writing, and mathematics; and survey data on socioeconomic background, financial resources, employment, and educational aspirations. Study findings included the following: (1) between 1978 and 1980, 5-year persistence rates remained constant at 35.5%, with a drop in graduation rates from 23.1% to 21.9% compensated for by an increase in retention from 12.6% to 13.6%; (2) persistence for students admitted to bachelor's degree (BA) programs fell from 47.0% to 46.4%, while persistence among associate degree students increased from 31.6% to 32.0%; (3) in comparison to national norms, CUNY students had lower family incomes, were more likely to work full time, and had a more extensive need for remediation in college; (4) by the end of the sophomore year, about two-thirds of the BA students, 55% of the associate degree students, and 60% of the students enrolled in special opportunity programs were still enrolled in the CUNY system; and (5) a trend toward longer periods of college attendance was evidenced by both associate and baccalaureate degree graduates, with the percentage of students taking longer than 4 years to obtain a BA increasing from 50% for 1970 freshmen to 67% for 1980 freshmen. Tables on retention and graduation rates are included for each CUNY campus. (JMC)