This study explored the difficulties that probationary students viewed as obstacles to their academic progress. These difficulties were compared to those identified by regularly matriculated students and to probationary students' deficits on a standardized study skills test. We compared the responses of participants (N = 150) in an intervention program for probationary students on a 30-item checklist of academic difficulties to: a) the responses of regularly matriculated students (N = 153); and b) probationary students' performance on the Survey of Study Habits and Attitudes (SSHA; Brown & Holtzman, 1967). Probationary students identified more motivational and stress-related checklist problems than did regularly matriculated students. Probationary students identified the same number of study skills problems as regularly matriculated students, despite scoring well below the 50th percentile on the SSHA's work methods scale. Implications for the design of interventions for probationary students are discussed, as are directions for future research.