This speech discusses several of the exemplary dropout prevention programs sponsored by the Office of Education. The basis of all the programs, whether they be for dropouts from school or for dropouts from life, is that once people find out that there is work to be done in the world, and that they will be welcomed and rewarded for doing it, they apply themselves to learning what must be mastered. The hardest task these programs face is to convince untrained people who have experienced nothing but failure that there is a place where they are needed and wanted, and that they can make a place for themselves in the world. Special recognition is given to the O.I.C. which received a grant from the Office of Education to provide work-study opportunities for future black businessmen. (PC)