THE NEED FOR OCCUPATIONAL EDUCATION PROGRAMS WAS ASCERTAINED BY DESIGNING A MODEL FOR STATEWIDE ASSESSMENT OF EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES. A LIST OF 63,125 NEBRASKA EMPLOYERS WAS DEVELOPED IN COOPERATION WITH THE STATE TAX COMMISSIONER, INTERNAL REVENUE SERVICE, AND THE STATE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR. QUESTIONNAIRES CONSISTING OF 174 JOB CLUSTERS WERE MAILED TO A 3 PERCENT RANDOM SAMPLE OF 1,894 FIRMS TO DETERMINE THE NUMBER OF PEOPLE PRESENTLY EMPLOYED BY OCCUPATIONAL GROUPING, THE NUMBER OF EMPLOYEES NEEDED IN EACH OCCUPATIONAL GROUP DURING THE NEXT YEAR, AND THE EMPLOYMENT NEEDS FOR EACH OCCUPATIONAL GROUPING IN THE NEXT 3 YEARS. THE QUESTIONNAIRE YIELDED A 40 PERCENT RESPONSE AND DATA FROM NON-RESPONDENTS WERE OBTAINED BY PERSONAL INTERVIEW. SELF-EMPLOYED PERSONS HIRING NO EMPLOYEES WERE NOT INCLUDED IN THE SAMPLE POPULATION. HOWEVER, THE FARMER AND RANCHER GROUP WAS ESTIMATED FROM NEBRASKA AGRICULTURAL STATISTICS. THE EMPLOYMENT DATA WERE PROJECTED BY COMPUTER TO REFLECT STATEWIDE EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES IN EACH OF THE 174 JOB GROUPS. CURRENT EMPLOYMENT IN NEBRASKA WAS ESTIMATED TO BE 653,990 AND PERCENTAGE DISTRIBUTIONS BY OCCUPATIONAL GROUPS WERE--(1) AGRICULTURAL, 20.4, (2) DISTRIBUTIVE, 22.5, (3) HEALTH, 3.9, (4) WAGE EARNING HOME ECONOMICS, .8, (5) BUSINESS, 16.3, (6) TRADE AND INDUSTRIAL, 29.6, AND (7) OTHER, 6.5. FINDINGS INDICATED 42.8 PERCENT OF ALL NEW EMPLOYEES IN THE NEXT 3 YEARS WILL BE NEEDED IN THE TRADE AND INDUSTRIAL OCCUPATIONS AREA. FURTHER STUDY WAS RECOMMENDED TO DETERMINE JOB DESCRIPTIONS, CURRICULUM NEEDS, NET EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES (CORRECTED FOR MIGRATION), AND STARTING WAGES. (DM)