Northern Virginia Community College (NVCC) conducted a student survey to identify causes of first-time student attrition between fall 1999 semester and the following spring semester. A Non-Returning Student Survey was mailed to 2,026 such students, 185 of whom responded by mail, and 494 more of whom were contacted for telephone interviews. Reasons cited for not returning for spring semester: (1) 17% reported they had transferred or otherwise accomplished their educational objectives; (2) 48% cited competing demands of family, employment and educational commitments; (3) 14% cited financial reasons; and (4) 12% of respondents did not return because of academic difficulties and/or dissatisfaction with NVCC. Survey findings indicated that: (1) the primary reason male respondents did not return was finance related; (2) female respondents indicated family or personal circumstances as the primary reason for discontinuing their studies; (3) 18% of the Asian respondents indicated transfer to another college as their primary reason for not returning, compared to 3% of Black respondents and 3% of Hispanic respondents; and (4) family or personal barriers to education appeared to increase with the respondents' age while financial barriers appeared to decrease. Appendix A contains comments from the Non-Returning Student Survey and a copy of the survey instrument. (PGS)