A review of the literature related to the impact of vocational education on student retention determined that various types of vocational education programs and approaches have been successful in keeping students in school. Other research showed that vocational education played a role in student retention only when coupled with other components such as work experience. Several other studies found that with increased graduation requirements and thus limited access to vocational education the dropout rate increased. A limited number of studies found inconclusive evidence that vocational education has an impact on student retention, and a small number of studies found that vocational education had either a negative impact or no impact on keeping students in school. (The report includes a table that summarizes these research strands by author. Contains 101 references.) (KC)