A multivariate "school process" model is evaluated to explore the antecendents and consequences of curriculum enrollment. Selected characteristics of peer associates, measures of academic achievement, and three subjective outcome variables--educational plans, self-conceptions of academic competence, and intellectual orientations--are considered. The analysis, based on questionnaire and testing data for a sample of high school seniors, identifies academic ability and status origins as important determinants of curriculum placement. Curriculum enrollment and other school process variables, including characteristics of peer associates and academic performance, both contribute uniquely to the explanation of subjective orientations and serve as important mediators of background influence. Evidence is provided for the substantial importance of curriculum enrollment for both cognitive and noncognitive outcomes of schooling, as well as for retention in school. (Author)