The purposes of this national survey of postsecondary occupational education were to investigate (1) the processes of curriculum decision making (who is involved, extent and effectiveness of private sector involvement, responsiveness/flexibility of the process) and (2) student behavior (why they continued their education, why they chose a particular institution and major program). Data collection was undertaken through a nationally representative survey and on-site visits to a geographically dispersed sample of 48 institutions (public or nonprofit community or junior colleges, technical institutes, or colleges/universities that offered vocational programs). (Data from these observations are not on the data tapes.) Questionnaires were sent to the following persons at each institution: (1) the chief administrator; (2) two randomly selected instructors from each of two occupational programs; (3) the chairs of the two departments; (4) the placement director; and (5) three randomly selected students taking classes from each of the four instructors (total of 12). Responses were analyzed by geographic region, institutional type (community/junior colleges, technical institutes, colleges/universities), and program type. Variables included administrative structure, curriculum decision making, business/industry linkage, faculty and facility updating, student preparedness and motivation, time usage, media usage, student goals and objectives, innovative practices, faculty job characteristics and satisfaction. TYPE OF SURVEY: Sample Survey, Cross Sectional Survey. POPULATION: Public or nonprofit institutions offering postsecondary occupational education (2,299). SAMPLE: A Simple random sample of population (725). RESPONSE RATE: Postsecondary institutions (432=60%), chief administrators (392=54%), placement officers (374=54%), department chairs (605=47%), faculty (1,247=49%), students (3,363=44%). FREQUENCY: Once. YEAR OF FIRST DATA: 1987. (SK)