This study was designed to examine the relationship between an adolescent's educational plans as reported by the adolescent himself and his mother's educational expectations for him as reported by her. The data were obtained in a previous study, a survey including a multistage, cluster sample of some 7,000 cases representing 13,484,000 public and private school students. The data had been gathered through questionnaires. Tests for interaction were used to determine if the effects of the mother's aspiration, race, and other characteristics influenced college plans. Findings indicated that a subject's plan to attend college was closely associated with his mother's educational expectation for him. This expectation was related to the mother's educational attainment and religion but was relatively independent of such characteristics as the subject's IQ and the socioeconomic status of the family. Negroes had the same level of educational aspiration as whites, but the mothers were less likely to expect that their children would go to college, primarily because of the cost involved. Negroes were also less likely to be enrolled in a college preparatory curriculum. Educational goals appeared to be formed at home and in the peer group, rather than in the school environment. (MS)