A study examined the barriers to recruitment and retention of disadvantaged, unemployed, underemployed, and out-of-school youth as perceived by students, teachers, counselors, and administrators. To identify such students and barriers, researchers used the following data collection procedures: on-site interviews with 10 Florida area vocational school directors, a mail survey of 260 area vocational school professional staff, and a telephone survey of 10 area vocational school dropouts and 10 re-enrollees. Among the findings were the following: (1) the recruitment practice that received the highest ranking in terms of frequency of use and perceived success was personal contacts with prospective students made by past and present students; (2) approximately 30 percent of those dropouts who returned cited personal contact by school faculty or past/present students as their main reason for returning; and (3) faculty groups perceived the financial needs of students and inability to attend class as the greatest program barriers. Recommendations included calls for increased emphasis on student guidance and counseling, increased financial assistance to remove situational barriers, and development of a model for implementing alternative recruitment/retention strategies. (MN)