Manpower information and projections in postsecondary education have present value in the sense that they guide today's decisions based on a view of what tomorrow's world will be like. But manpower decisions are complicated by the fact that the decision-maker, be it a government, an institution, or an individual, must also take account of how others will react when making their decision. Manpower approaches in American postsecondary education are growing in scope, sophistication, applicability, and influence; yet they are imperfect instruments that must be used with great attention to their inherent limitations and to the nature of decision-making in higher education. The coming years will demand greater care in the application of manpower approaches to postsecondary education, and the penalties for mistaken conclusions promise to be heavy. (Author/MSE)