A Finnish study sought to verify the "exclusiveness theory" of education developed by Randall Collins. The exclusiveness theory proposes that educational requirements and the educational levels required for employment continually increase, not in response to the actual requirements of jobs, but so that the professions can maintain exclusivity and social status by excluding those with lower levels of education. Education is seen as a means of continuing or bettering social class rank rather than as job preparation. In the study, a sample of 392 students from a population of 1,604 at a open university were administered a questionnaire, with a response rate of 74 percent. The questionnaire asked about students' reasons for obtaining higher education and about their perceptions of their social class. The study did not support the hypothesis that elevation of social status was a significant factor in students' reasons for studying at the university. (KC)