This article reports on a study that is concerned with surveying the aspirations of some students in an Australian Technical and Further Education (TAFE) College and developing strategies to address issues arising from the surveys. The study is essentially a series of surveys, thought it has an action learning aspect because of its developmental nature; it describes problems, actions taken to solve them and subsequent review of those actions. It is a work in progress that began three years ago by seeking to understand why students in the Health section of the Community and Health Services Training Centre at the College undertook their studies. The article begins with some background matters; there follows an account of the methods employed in the surveys; next, some of the findings are displayed and discussed; and, finally, an outline is given of some of the changes implemented as a result of the investigation process thus far. (Contains 2 figures and 7 tables.)