Work experience programs in secondary schools were examined to determine the costs and benefits associated with them. Data on students in these programs were compared with data on students with nonschool-supervised jobs and students with no jobs. Characteristics and experiences of current and former students were compared. A random sample was selected from the 50 largest standard metropolitan statistical areas east of the Mississippi and their contiguous nonmetropolitan counties. Data were obtained from 33 high schools in 15 school districts. Information on the costs of work experience and vocational programs was obtained from school records and questionnaires given to students and school officials. The report deals with vocational education, work experience, and cost-effectiveness analysis; economic costs and benefits; effects of cooperative education on post-high school employment experiences; monetary returns; effects on personal development, education, and employment; effects on career development and on students' perceptions of school and jobs; and cooperative education and the employer. It was concluded that from a strictly monetary point of view, investment in work experience, rather than nonwork experience vocational programs, is not justified; however, many other measures indicate the program achieves other educational, developmental, and attitudinal objectives. Appendixes contain questionnaires and codes, wage regressions of current and former students, and regression and factor analyses tables. (TA)