The author has examined the prospects for successful application of career education principles to the problems of youth unemployment in the United States, the relationship of occupationally relevant content in curricula to school dropout and student alienation, the location and control of youth occupational preparation programs, and the implications of alternate futures for the career education concept. Some significant factors identified in youth unemployment were: (1) institutionalized employment bias against youth (particularly the under-25 male), (2) inexperience in the skill of jobseeking, and (3) the trend to favor the young female over the young male (except in professional/managerial areas). Implications for career education could be: (1) emphasis on jobseeking skills, (2) the encouragement of more young men to train and compete for clerical/office jobs, and (3) more research into adolescent male psychology. Potential dropouts, alienated students, or "non-makers" will benefit as career education concepts broaden the opportunities for the nonacademically gifted; however, the effectiveness of this reform will be dependent on the ability and willingness of employers to absorb and utilize the products of the school. The problem of location of occupational preparation remains complex. Alternate futures of career education are viewed in relation to the structuralist viewpoint. (EA)