A study was conducted to identify reasons companies used community colleges and four-year colleges and universities for corporate education. Other purposes were to determine ways in which companies obtained such educational services and the effect of company size. The population consisted of the chief executive officers of 494 manufacturing companies with 26 or more full-time employees in 3 Illinois Chamber of Commerce service areas (Rockford area, Illinois Quad-City, and Peoria area). A total of 129 usable surveys were returned. The survey instrument consisted of 83 closed-ended items and 6 open-ended items. Findings indicated that 73 companies used higher education institutions. Community colleges were used for more aspects of corporate education and job-related training in emerging technologies at a reasonable cost for managers, supervisors, and technical and clerical personnel. Four-year institutions were used by executive and management personnel. Except for technical skills training and use of tuition assistance programs, company size was not a factor in the use of community colleges for corporate education. (26 references) (YLB)