In the past, almost all student follow-up studies have been cross institutional or very broad in nature. The target has consisted of populations of graduates, dropouts, or longitudinal entering classes. The output measures have centered around continued education of the population, job situation, mobility, reason for leaving, or a general evaluation of the educational experience. While these broad institutional student outcome studies impress groups external to the institution, they are of little value to the internal educational manager who must make decisions about curriculum, program size, and recruitment for major fields, since this type of decision is usually at the department or divisional level. The internal educational manager needs information about a very specific population of former students and very specific output and evaluation data. This presentation explains why two types of student outcome research are needed at an institution: one to satisfy external demand, and another to provide managerial information needed for internal decision-making. Examples of each type of research are given, along with descriptions of recommended methodologies to be used in each case. (Author/NHM)