With the dwindling of the traditional college applicant pool, retention has become one of higher educational institutions' top priorities. This study addresses the effectiveness of Western Psychological Services'"Student Adaptation to College Questionnaire" (SACQ) for providing early evidence of poor adjustment and potential attrition and its ability to differentiate persisters from non-persisters. Using discriminant analysis of the SACQ forms of nearly 2,000 new University of Hartford freshmen and transfer students in fall 1989 and 1990, the study examined: (1) the extent to which the SACQ accurately predicts student departure for a private, comprehensive university; (2) SACQ items distinguishing non-persisters; (3) SACQ use with an incoming class; and (4) evidence linking the SACQ with intervention strategies. Evidence from the study suggested that the SACQ can effectively alert faculty and counselors as to which students are most likely to depart with overall discriminant functions correctly classifying 79 to 85 percent of students as persisters or non-persisters. In addition, the SACQ showed an apparent ability to identify various clusters or subcultures which characterize a campus. Anecdotal evidence following dialogues with high-risk students provided some substantiation for a link between intervention, heightened adjustment, and increased retention. The report contains five tables and nine references. (JB)