The National Longitudinal Study of the High School Class of 1972 (NLS) is a federally supported longitudinal study of a national sample of some 23,000 young people first surveyed as high school seniors in the spring of 1972. The historical precedents of such a study include the work of Friend and Haggert in a Boston settlement house, Louis…

This study sought to identify distinguishing characteristics of high school vocational students. Academic ability, post secondary school plans, student ratings of their school, psychological variables, values, extracurricular activites, and the influence of various key people were used as independent measures for identifying vocational students.…

In light of the many changes of the past 20 years, it may be expected that plans of high school seniors for further education may have also changed, along with the kinds of jobs they expect to have and the things they regard as important. These questions are examined through data from the National Longitudinal Study of 1972 (NLS) and the National…