<PAGE> PAGE 1
000 B000000 10/31/98
000 C000000 812486
000 D000000 N
000 E000000 NF
000 F000000 Y
000 G000000 N
000 H000000 N
000 I000000 3.0
000 J000000 A
001 A000000 STRONG SHORT-TERM BOND FUND, INC.
001 B000000 811-5108
001 C000000 4145777306
002 A000000 P.O. BOX 2936
002 B000000 MILWAUKEE
002 C000000 WI
002 D010000 53201
002 D020000 2936
003 000000 N
004 000000 N
005 000000 N
006 000000 N
007 A000000 N
007 B000000 0
007 C010100 1
007 C010200 2
007 C010300 3
007 C010400 4
007 C010500 5
007 C010600 6
007 C010700 7
007 C010800 8
007 C010900 9
007 C011000 10
008 A000001 STRONG CAPITAL MANAGEMENT, INC.
008 B000001 A
008 C000001 801-10724
008 D010001 MILWAUKEE
008 D020001 WI
008 D030001 53201
008 D040001 2936
011 A000001 STRONG FUND DISTRIBUTORS, INC.
011 B000001 8-10724
011 C010001 MILWAUKEE
011 C020001 WI
011 C030001 53201
011 C040001 2936
012 A000001 STRONG CAPITAL MANAGEMENT, INC.
012 B000001 84-1599
012 C010001 MILWAUKEE
012 C020001 WI
012 C030001 53201
<PAGE> PAGE 2
012 C040001 2936
013 A000001 PRICEWATERHOUSECOOPERS LLP
013 B010001 MILWAUKEE
013 B020001 WI
013 B030001 53202
014 A000001 STRONG FUNDS DISTRIBUTORS, INC.
014 B000001 8-32608
014 A000002 W.H. REAVES & COMPANY, INC.
014 B000002 8-22142
015 A000001 FIRSTAR TRUST COMPANY
015 B000001 C
015 C010001 MILWAUKEE
015 C020001 WI
015 C030001 53202
015 E010001 X
015 A000002 BROWN BROTHERS HARRIMAN & COMPANY
015 B000002 S
015 C010002 BOSTON
015 C020002 MA
015 C030002 02109
015 E040002 X
018 000000 Y
019 A000000 Y
019 B000000 49
019 C000000 STRONGFUND
020 A000001 SALOMON SMITH BARNEY, INC.
020 C000001 201
020 A000002 GOLDMAN, SACHS & COMPANY
020 C000002 61
020 C000003 0
020 C000004 0
020 C000005 0
020 C000006 0
020 C000007 0
020 C000008 0
020 C000009 0
020 C000010 0
021 000000 262
022 A000001 THE CHICAGO CORPORATION
022 C000001 7412700
022 D000001 0
022 A000002 BARCLAYS DE ZOETE WEDD, INC.
022 C000002 868701
022 D000002 0
022 A000003 MERRILL LYNCH, PIERCE, FENNER & SMITH, INC.
022 C000003 410474
022 D000003 364739
022 A000004 GOLDMAN, SACHS & COMPANY
022 C000004 560725
022 D000004 183976
022 A000005 LEHMAN BROTHERS, INC.
<PAGE> PAGE 3
022 C000005 303418
022 D000005 221634
022 A000006 SALOMON SMITH BARNEY, INC.
022 C000006 273406
022 D000006 186085
022 A000007 ELAN INVESTMENT SERVICES, INC.
022 C000007 188329
022 D000007 28456
022 A000008 DONALDSON, LUFKIN & JENRETTE SECURITIES CORP.
022 C000008 146037
022 D000008 67893
022 A000009 MORGAN STANLEY, DEAN WITTER & CO.
022 C000009 101257
022 D000009 59298
022 A000010 UBS SECURITIES LLC
022 C000010 58794
022 D000010 79088
023 C000000 10702414
023 D000000 1487149
024 000000 Y
025 A000001 MERRILL LYNCH, PIERCE, FENNER & SMITH, INC.
025 C000001 D
025 D000001 5094
025 D000002 0
025 D000003 0
025 D000004 0
025 D000005 0
025 D000006 0
025 D000007 0
025 D000008 0
026 A000000 N
026 B000000 Y
026 C000000 N
026 D000000 Y
026 E000000 N
026 F000000 N
026 G010000 N
026 G020000 N
026 H000000 N
027 000000 Y
028 A010000 48795
028 A020000 6033
028 A030000 0
028 A040000 39123
028 B010000 43215
028 B020000 6514
028 B030000 0
028 B040000 45251
028 C010000 47376
028 C020000 7471
028 C030000 0
<PAGE> PAGE 4
028 C040000 51280
028 D010000 61215
028 D020000 6557
028 D030000 0
028 D040000 55028
028 E010000 42184
028 E020000 5652
028 E030000 0
028 E040000 58463
028 F010000 40743
028 F020000 6591
028 F030000 0
028 F040000 57952
028 G010000 283528
028 G020000 38818
028 G030000 0
028 G040000 307097
028 H000000 0
029 000000 N
030 A000000 0
030 B000000 0.00
030 C000000 0.00
031 A000000 0
031 B000000 0
032 000000 0
033 000000 0
034 000000 N
035 000000 0
036 B000000 0
037 000000 N
038 000000 0
039 000000 Y
040 000000 N
041 000000 N
042 A000000 0
042 B000000 0
042 C000000 0
042 D000000 0
042 E000000 0
042 F000000 0
042 G000000 0
042 H000000 0
043 000000 0
044 000000 0
045 000000 Y
046 000000 N
047 000000 Y
048 000000 0.625
048 A010000 0
048 A020000 0.000
048 B010000 0
<PAGE> PAGE 5
048 B020000 0.000
048 C010000 0
048 C020000 0.000
048 D010000 0
048 D020000 0.000
048 E010000 0
048 E020000 0.000
048 F010000 0
048 F020000 0.000
048 G010000 0
048 G020000 0.000
048 H010000 0
048 H020000 0.000
048 I010000 0
048 I020000 0.000
048 J010000 0
048 J020000 0.000
048 K010000 0
048 K020000 0.000
049 000000 N
050 000000 N
051 000000 N
052 000000 N
053 A000000 N
054 A000000 Y
054 B000000 Y
054 C000000 Y
054 D000000 N
054 E000000 N
054 F000000 N
054 G000000 N
054 H000000 Y
054 I000000 N
054 J000000 Y
054 K000000 N
054 L000000 Y
054 M000000 Y
054 N000000 N
054 O000000 N
055 A000000 N
055 B000000 N
056 000000 Y
057 000000 N
058 A000000 N
059 000000 Y
060 A000000 Y
060 B000000 Y
061 000000 250
062 A000000 Y
062 B000000 0.2
062 C000000 0.0
<PAGE> PAGE 6
062 D000000 0.1
062 E000000 0.0
062 F000000 0.0
062 G000000 0.0
062 H000000 0.0
062 I000000 0.0
062 J000000 0.0
062 K000000 0.0
062 L000000 1.3
062 M000000 2.3
062 N000000 15.5
062 O000000 0.0
062 P000000 74.2
062 Q000000 0.0
062 R000000 5.9
063 A000000 0
063 B000000 2.6
064 A000000 Y
064 B000000 N
066 A000000 N
067 000000 N
068 A000000 N
068 B000000 N
069 000000 N
070 A010000 Y
070 A020000 Y
070 B010000 Y
070 B020000 N
070 C010000 Y
070 C020000 Y
070 D010000 Y
070 D020000 N
070 E010000 Y
070 E020000 Y
070 F010000 Y
070 F020000 N
070 G010000 Y
070 G020000 Y
070 H010000 Y
070 H020000 N
070 I010000 N
070 I020000 N
070 J010000 Y
070 J020000 Y
070 K010000 Y
070 K020000 N
070 L010000 Y
070 L020000 Y
070 M010000 Y
070 M020000 Y
070 N010000 Y
<PAGE> PAGE 7
070 N020000 N
070 O010000 Y
070 O020000 N
070 P010000 Y
070 P020000 N
070 Q010000 N
070 Q020000 N
070 R010000 Y
070 R020000 N
071 A000000 1855575
071 B000000 1806902
071 C000000 1306658
071 D000000 138
072 A000000 12
072 B000000 95400
072 C000000 5805
072 D000000 0
072 E000000 0
072 F000000 8397
072 G000000 0
072 H000000 0
072 I000000 2177
072 J000000 49
072 K000000 0
072 L000000 274
072 M000000 17
072 N000000 77
072 O000000 0
072 P000000 0
072 Q000000 0
072 R000000 48
072 S000000 7
072 T000000 0
072 U000000 0
072 V000000 0
072 W000000 -231
072 X000000 10815
072 Y000000 0
072 Z000000 90390
072AA000000 18231
072BB000000 38129
072CC010000 0
072CC020000 9276
072DD010000 90614
072DD020000 0
072EE000000 0
073 A010000 0.6603
073 A020000 0.0000
073 B000000 0.0000
073 C000000 0.0000
074 A000000 0
<PAGE> PAGE 8
074 B000000 1000
074 C000000 19852
074 D000000 1223669
074 E000000 73142
074 F000000 0
074 G000000 0
074 H000000 0
074 I000000 5094
074 J000000 15991
074 K000000 0
074 L000000 21003
074 M000000 427
074 N000000 1360178
074 O000000 22672
074 P000000 55
074 Q000000 0
074 R010000 0
074 R020000 0
074 R030000 0
074 R040000 8316
074 S000000 0
074 T000000 1329135
074 U010000 138901
074 U020000 0
074 V010000 9.57
074 V020000 0.00
074 W000000 0.0000
074 X000000 48933
074 Y000000 488913
075 A000000 0
075 B000000 1342199
076 000000 0.00
077 A000000 Y
077 B000000 Y
077 C000000 N
077 D000000 N
077 E000000 N
077 F000000 N
077 G000000 N
077 H000000 N
077 I000000 N
077 J000000 N
077 K000000 N
077 L000000 N
077 M000000 N
077 N000000 N
077 O000000 N
077 P000000 N
077 Q010000 N
077 Q020000 N
077 Q030000 N
<PAGE> PAGE 9
078 000000 N
080 A000000 NATIONAL UNION FIRE INSURANCE
080 B000000 GREAT AMERICAN INSURANCE COMPANY
080 C000000 100000
081 A000000 Y
081 B000000 47
082 A000000 Y
082 B000000 100
083 A000000 N
083 B000000 0
084 A000000 N
084 B000000 0
085 A000000 Y
085 B000000 N
086 A010000 0
086 A020000 0
086 B010000 0
086 B020000 0
086 C010000 0
086 C020000 0
086 D010000 0
086 D020000 0
086 E010000 0
086 E020000 0
086 F010000 0
086 F020000 0
SIGNATURE DANA RUSSART
TITLE TREASURER
<TABLE> <S> <C>
<ARTICLE> 6
<CIK> 0000812486
<NAME> "Strong Short-Term Bond Fund, Inc."
<MULTIPLIER> 1000
<S> <C>
<PERIOD-TYPE> year
<FISCAL-YEAR-END> Oct-31-1998
<PERIOD-START> Nov-01-1997
<PERIOD-END> Oct-31-1998
<INVESTMENTS-AT-COST> 1320136
<INVESTMENTS-AT-VALUE> 1322757
<RECEIVABLES> 36994
<ASSETS-OTHER> 427
<OTHER-ITEMS-ASSETS> 0
<TOTAL-ASSETS> 1360178
<PAYABLE-FOR-SECURITIES> 22672
<SENIOR-LONG-TERM-DEBT> 0
<OTHER-ITEMS-LIABILITIES> 8371
<TOTAL-LIABILITIES> 31043
<SENIOR-EQUITY> 0
<PAID-IN-CAPITAL-COMMON> 1429977
<SHARES-COMMON-STOCK> 138901
<SHARES-COMMON-PRIOR> 133963
<ACCUMULATED-NII-CURRENT> 0
<OVERDISTRIBUTION-NII> (777)
<ACCUMULATED-NET-GAINS> 0
<OVERDISTRIBUTION-GAINS> (101,959)
<ACCUM-APPREC-OR-DEPREC> 1894
<NET-ASSETS> 1329135
<DIVIDEND-INCOME> 5805
<INTEREST-INCOME> 95400
<OTHER-INCOME> 0
<EXPENSES-NET> (10,815)
<NET-INVESTMENT-INCOME> 90390
<REALIZED-GAINS-CURRENT> (19898)
<APPREC-INCREASE-CURRENT> (9276)
<NET-CHANGE-FROM-OPS> 61216
<EQUALIZATION> 0
<DISTRIBUTIONS-OF-INCOME> (90,614)
<DISTRIBUTIONS-OF-GAINS> 0
<DISTRIBUTIONS-OTHER> 0
<NUMBER-OF-SHARES-SOLD> 59071
<NUMBER-OF-SHARES-REDEEMED> (61,901)
<SHARES-REINVESTED> 7768
<NET-CHANGE-IN-ASSETS> 19340
<ACCUMULATED-NII-PRIOR> 0
<ACCUMULATED-GAINS-PRIOR> 0
<OVERDISTRIB-NII-PRIOR> (553)
<OVERDIST-NET-GAINS-PRIOR> (82,062)
<GROSS-ADVISORY-FEES> 8397
<INTEREST-EXPENSE> 0
<GROSS-EXPENSE> 10,815
<AVERAGE-NET-ASSETS> 1347156
<PER-SHARE-NAV-BEGIN> 9.78
<PER-SHARE-NII> 0.66
<PER-SHARE-GAIN-APPREC> (0.21)
<PER-SHARE-DIVIDEND> (0.66)
<PER-SHARE-DISTRIBUTIONS> 0.00
<RETURNS-OF-CAPITAL> 0.00
<PER-SHARE-NAV-END> 9.57
<EXPENSE-RATIO> 0.8
<AVG-DEBT-OUTSTANDING> 0
<AVG-DEBT-PER-SHARE> 0
</TABLE>
