The original purpose of this longitudinal study was to determine opportunities existing in farming and current methods of getting established in farming. However, the purpose was subsequently broadened to a study of the nature of student decision-making. Factors which were considered to be associated with decision-making include family background, individual ability and school performance. Over a 7-year period, data were collected primarily by questionnaires from two groups of participating students. The initial group of 764 graduating seniors first completed questionnaires in the spring of 1956. In the fall of 1957, a second group of 1,107 male matriculating freshmen in the same 31 high schools located in five geographically distributed Wisconsin counties, participated in the project. The resulting data presented in a series of tables help the understanding of why students make certain decisions. (CH)