SOCIAL, DEMOGRAPHIC, AND ECONOMIC FACTORS AFFECTING SCHOOL ENROLLMENT, RETARDATION, DROPOUT, AND COLLEGE ATTENDANCE WERE INVESTIGATED. FACTORS AFFECTING THE LEVEL OF EDUCATIONAL ATTAINMENT, INCLUDING THE RELATION OF EDUCATION TO OCCUPATION, WERE ALSO CONSIDERED. PROCEDURES INVOLVED ANALYSIS OF STATISTICAL DATA FROM CENSUS MATERIALS. CHANGES IN ENROLLMENT RATES, 1900-60, WERE STUDIED. TRENDS IN GRADE RETARDATION INDICATE A VERY SUBSTANTIAL DECLINE. BECAUSE OF COMPULSORY ATTENDANCE, FACTORS SUCH AS EDUCATIONAL CHOICE, ECONOMIC STATUS, AND SATISFACTORY SCHOOL ACHIEVEMENT AFFECT ONLY ENROLLMENT PATTERNS OF LATE HIGH SCHOOL AND COLLEGE LEVELS. FACTORS CONSIDERED WHICH MAY AFFECT THE EDUCATIONAL ATTAINMENT LEVEL ARE SEX, AGE, RACE, ETHNIC GROUPINGS, RELIGION, GEOGRAPHIC REGIONS, URBAN AS OPPOSED TO RURAL AREAS, AND SOCIOECONOMIC LEVEL. EDUCATIONAL ATTAINMENT WITHIN THE BROAD OCCUPATIONAL CATEGORIES OF THE CENSUS HAD INCREASED SUBSTANTIALLY FOR MOST OCCUPATIONS IN THE LAST TWO DECADES. THE DATA ALSO INDICATE THAT THERE HAS BEEN A DECLINE IN THE STRENGTH OF THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN EDUCATIONAL ATTAINMENT AND OCCUPATION, AND THAT THIS DECLINE IS LIKELY TO CONTINUE.