The National Longitudinal Study of the High School Class of 1972 (NLS) is a federally supported longitudinal study of a national sample of some 23,000 young people first surveyed as high school seniors in the spring of 1972. The historical precedents of such a study include the work of Friend and Haggert in a Boston settlement house, Louis Terman's genetic studies of genius, Donald Super's work in upstate New York, and John Flanagan and Project Talent. To help launch the NLS, Doc Howe and John Gardner worked for the necessary cooperation between several federal agencies. Finally, Dorothy Gilford of the National Center for Education Statistics began the project. The original survey obtained data from 17,726 twelfth grade students in 1,044 schools concurring their plans, aspirations, previous experiences, abilities, and school programs. The First Follow-Up was conducted in the fall of 1973 and the Second Follow-Up began in the fall of 1974. Each future data collection is expected to add to the individual histories -- that is, to the experiences, activities, attitudes, satisfactions, environments, and plans of the students as they progress into early adulthood. (BW)