Because of the extensive demographic and economic data available and the trend of rising educational attainment during the past two decades, the Philippines' Bicol region served as an example for researchers analyzing the decision of families in low-income rural areas to send their children to school. Researchers applied relevant time measures to data from a 1978 survey of 1,492 randomly selected Bicol households with a total of 7,465 children of at least school age. Factors that raised the level of schooling included parents' education, land wealth, proximity to schools, and being first-born. Rurality and alternatives for use of the child's time lowered the level of schooling. Factors such as sibling order, mother's education, and farming affected the educational attainment of males and females differently. Contrary to those in most developing countries, educational levels of females were close to those of males. Among males, an unconditional mean schooling attainment was 7.2 years of schooling, with 27% completing high school. Females unconditionally attained a mean of 7.7 years and 29% completed high school. Among those entering college, 65% of the women and 57% of the men were expected to finish. (SB)