An outline is presented of the design of the followup surveys of the National Longitudinal Study of the High School Class of 1972 (NLS). The NLS is an extensive study of the educational, vocational, and personal development of high school graduates, and the personal, familial, social, institutional, and cultural factors that contribute to that development. A discussion of various aspects of the followup survey focuses on the potential problems of nonresponse, tracing the base-year group, followup stategies, and response rate. The paper also highlights the content of the NLS questionnaires, pointing out some data analysis which the National Center for Educational Statistics plans to conduct, plus some potential analyses in which other sections of the education community could play a major role. (Author/EVH)