The transition from high school to college and work for tech prep participants was examined in a 4-year longitudinal study of local tech prep consortia in eight regions of the United States. The study methodology drew heavily on transcript analysis and two surveys with tech prep participants and nonparticipants. The tech prep participants and nonparticipants did not differ substantially in race/ethnicity, income, and parental education. The wide variations in secondary education and tech prep participation from consortium to consortium made it difficult to formulate definitive conclusions about particular models or approaches. The study findings did, however, support the notion that school and consortium requirements influence student participation in core academic courses relative to tech prep programs of study. The findings also suggested that it is incumbent upon school personnel to link tech prep core curricula to high school graduation requirements that go beyond the basic minimum requirements and prepare students for college entrance. (Thirty-nine tables/figures are included. The bibliography lists 33 references. Appendixes, constituting approximately two-thirds of the document, contain data on topics such as students' high school performance, demographic and background characteristics, course taking, work-based learning and high school work experiences, transition to college, continuing tech prep participation, college completion and persistence, and post-high school work experience.) (MN)