Main objective was to look at the broad picture of needs assessment by examining origins of extension programs. Purposes were to: identify origins of Cooperative Extension Service home economics programs, to examine to what extent these origins represented Philip Nowlen's (University of Chicago) five categories of origin, and to compare these categories of origin with the independent variables. The five categories of origin were: history, philosophy, operations, needs assessment, and context. The independent variables were: program emphasis; and the demographic variables: state, years employed with extension or adult education, full- or part-time employment, degree, educational background, city size, and shared planning;A questionnaire was developed and identified demographics, programs, and program origins. From a list of 32 program origins, home economists selected major and related origins for three major programs. Data were analyzed from 241 home economists (50 percent random cluster sample) and 683 programs from: Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, South Dakota, and Wisconsin;Data analysis included descriptive statistics, Multiple Response (SPSSX) comparisons of origin, chi-square analysis to identify differences among major origins and independent variables, one-way ANOVA to identify differences in number of all origins selected by independent variables, and Pearson product-moment correlations to identify relationships of all origins with the independent variables. Patterns of program origin were also studied;Descriptive statistics identified that all 32 origins, representing the five categories of origin, were selected. The most selected origin, advisory committee recommendations, was listed for 17 percent of the major origins and, for 49 percent of all programs, it was listed as an origin. The most selected category, needs assessment, was chosen for one-third of major origins and 30 percent of the home economists selected it as origin for their major programs. Percentages and statistical analysis identified some variations with the independent variables. No significant correlations were noted between the total number of origins given and the independent variables.