THE CHARACTERISTICS OF STUDENTS PLANNING POST-HIGH SCHOOL BUSINESS EDUCATION, VOCATIONAL EDUCATION, SOME COLLEGE, AND COLLEGE GRADUATION ARE IDENTIFIED. A STRATIFIED RANDOM SAMPLE OF 3,117 JUNIOR AND SENIOR STUDENTS IN 12 HIGH SCHOOLS PROVIDED DATA FOR COMPARING SCHOOL EXPERIENCES AND ATTITUDES TOWARDS SCHOOL, FAMILY BACKGROUND, PEER GROUP RELATIONSHIPS, AND OCCUPATIONAL EXPECTATIONS. THE FINDINGS IMPLIED THAT SCHOOL EXPERIENCES TEND TO REINFORCE RATHER THAN DISPEL THE HANDICAP TO EDUCATIONAL ACHIEVEMENT AND SUBSEQUENT UPWARD OCCUPATIONAL MOBILITY OF HAVING BEEN BORN INTO A FAMILY WITH LOW SOCIOECONOMIC STATUS. STUDENTS PLANNING VOCATIONAL AND BUSINESS TRAINING HAD RELATIVELY LOW SELF-IMAGES OF THEIR OWN SCHOLASTIC AND INTELLECTUAL ABILITIES WHEN COMPARED TO COLLEGE BOUND STUDENTS. STUDENTS PLANNING VOCATIONAL OR BUSINESS TRAINING RATED BETWEEN COLLEGE BOUND STUDENTS AND THOSE PLANNING TO TERMINATE THEIR FORMAL EDUCATION IN HIGH SCHOOL ON GRADE LEVEL, INTEREST IN SCHOOL WORK AND SATISFACTION WITH SCHOOL. IN GENERAL, STUDENTS PLANNING VOCATIONAL OR BUSINESS TRAINING HAD FOUND HIGH SCHOOL A RELATIVELY UNSUCCESSFUL AND UNINTERESTING EXPERIENCE BUT PLANNED TO ENTER OCCUPATIONS FOR WHICH THEIR TRAINING WOULD PREPARE THEM. HOWEVER, A SIGNIFICANT MINORITY SHOWED AN INCONGRUITY BETWEEN EDUCATIONAL AND OCCUPATIONAL PLANS. (DM)