In order to evaluate the impact of neuropsychiatric hospitalization on an individual's college career, a study was undertaken to evaluate 116 students from the University of Michigan who were hospitalized at either of the two acute treatment centers located in Ann Arbor, Mich. This review covered the years 1958 to 1967. The experimental group was compared and contrasted statistically with a control group of 240 students selected by a table of random numbers. Experimental and control groups were matched for sex, year of expected graduation, and field of study. Academic aptitude, academic success, postgraduate education, family stability, precollege psychopathology, and social adjustment were evaluated. The impact of hospitalization was found to be minimal, contrary to widely-held myths. Nor do the "predictors" of social and academic success stand up under careful statistical scrutiny.