Student data banks for ongoing research and evaluation have been implemented by a number of professional schools. Institutions selecting software designs for the establishment of such systems are often faced with making their choice before all the possible uses of the system are determined. Making software design decisions involves "rational" factors such as considering available approaches, anticipating the uses of the system, determining an access policy, and evaluating available hardware and software resources. "Nonrational" factors involved include time deadlines, the familiarity of the users with systems or packages, and institutional priorities for utilization of existing facilities. Characteristics of software designs include the type of managerial package, the data building blocks employed, the method of relating these blocks to each other, search methods available for use, the accessibility of data for updating and editing, and features addressing the designs' built-in limitations. This document, intended for those familiar with computers but not for computer professionals, discusses four systems currently in operation in schools of medicine. The intent of the discussion is to illuminate differences in software design characterstics and to explore the operating implications of these differences. (Author/PGD)