The principal objective of this 1970 thesis was to investigate empirically the social class differentials in educational orientations of over 5,000 rural Negro and white high-school sophomores from Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, South Carolina, and Texas; in addition, the significance of educational goal differences and/or differential opportunities as barriers to high educational attainment and subsequent social advancement is examined. Specifically, the study includes an analysis of Negro-white differences in educational orientations. Data, collected by questionnaire in 1966 and 1967, were analyzed in terms of interstate differences, socioeconomic-status differences, and racial differences. The findings in regard to educational aspirations suggest that opportunity, like educational aspirations, may not significantly prevent social mobility of low-socioeconomic-status youth but merely limits how far a youth can rise in socioeconomic status. That is, educational expectations indicate that lack of opportunity may be a barrier to completion of college by low- and moderate-socioeconomic-status youth. Implications suggest that educational opportunities be increased so that youth can pursue their educational goals; this might reduce value differences between social classes and races. (AN)