DATA ON THE PARTICIPANTS IN THE 1964 NATIONAL ACHIEVEMENT SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM (NASP) FOR NEGRO YOUTH WERE COLLECTED AND COMPARISONS MADE BETWEEN NOMINEES, FINALISTS, WINNERS, NATIONAL MERIT SCHOLARSHIP FINALISTS, OTHER NONWHITE STUDENTS, AND THE SCHOOL POPULATION GENERALLY. THE AIM OF NASP IS TO FIND THE MOST ABLE NEGRO YOUTH AND TO HELP THEM FINANCIALLY TO ATTEND COLLEGE. DATA WERE OBTAINED ON THE YOUTHS' SECONDARY SCHOOLS, ASPIRATIONS, FAMILY AND SOCIOECONOMIC BACKGROUNDS, AND ON THEIR SCORES ON CERTAIN TESTS. AMONG THE FINDINGS OF THIS STUDY WERE THE FOLLOWING-- (1) ALMOST ALL OF THE FINALISTS' VOCABULARY TEST SCORES WERE ABOVE THE AVERAGE SCORE OF COLLEGE FRESHMEN, (2) THE GOALS OF NASP WERE GENERALLY HIGHER THAN NATIONAL MERIT FINALISTS AND MUCH ABOVE THOSE OF AVERAGE STUDENTS, (3) THE MEDIAN FAMILY INCOME OF FINALISTS WAS HIGHER THAN THAT OF ALL OTHER NONWHITE FAMILIES AND IN THE OPINION OF THE JUDGES SHOWED A SMALL POSITIVE RELATIONSHIP TO ABILITY, (4) THE PARENTS OF NOMINATED STUDENTS HAD MORE EDUCATION THAN THOSE OF OTHER NONWHITE STUDENTS AND PARENTS' EDUCATION WAS FELT TO BE RELATED TO THE ABILITY OF THE NOMINEES, (5) NOMINATED STUDENTS MORE FREQUENTLY CAME FROM INTACT FAMILIES THAN DID OTHER NONWHITE STUDENTS, AND MORE FINALISTS AND WINNERS CAME FROM INTACT FAMILIES THAN DID THOSE NOT SELECTED, AND (6) FINALISTS TENDED TO BE AMONG THE OLDER CHILDREN IN THEIR FAMILIES. (EF)