This study examined how tracking, among a number of other background and school experience variables, affects students' predisposition to pursue a college education. It hypothesized that background characteristics and experiences affect secondary school track placement, that tracking significantly impacts students' postsecondary plans, and that background characteristics and school experiences influence student decisions to attend two- or four-year institutions. The study explored research on college choice and educational stratification, including tracking, and utilized data from the National Education Longitudinal Study of 1988 which is examining critical transitions students experience as they leave elementary school, progress through high school, and enter postsecondary institutions or the workforce. The study used a split group analysis technique to study such variables as socioeconomic status, student's gender, student's race/ethnicity, parents' desire for their child to attend college, and the student's self-report of his or her ability level. The study revealed a number of important relationships among students' background characteristics (especially gender and ethnic group) and track placement and their decisions about whether and where to attend a postsecondary institution. Implications for improving educational access to minority group students are drawn. (Contains 51 references.) (CK)