College students who transfer from a two-year or community college to a four-year institution must make many adjustments to the new institution and frequently suffer "transfer shock," evidenced by a (usually temporary) drop in grade point average. A student who is unprepared for transfer shock may become discouraged and drop out before obtaining a degree. At Montana State University (MSU)-Billings, many students transfer in from remote rural two-year colleges and must face strenuous commutes and adjustment to a larger, more structured institution; cultural differences; and juggling of family and work responsibilities. To address these issues, the College of Education and Human Services at MSU-Billings created transfer guides for students at several regional colleges. The guides contain information about how courses will transfer; answer questions about academics, child care, and housing; and inform students about transfer shock and the cultural and academic supports available to them. To assess the effectiveness of the guides, transcripts were examined for 103 students majoring in elementary education who had transferred to MSU-Billings from two-year colleges during 1990-95. Students had transferred from Northwest Community College (Wyoming), where transfer guides were in use, or from other regional, non-tribal, two-year colleges not using transfer guides. The two groups did not differ significantly in severity of transfer shock or recovery of grade point average, but Northwest Community College transfer students were more likely than other transfer students to persist to graduation. Contains 14 references. (SV)