In the second year of a federally funded program encouraging disadvantaged youth to prepare for college, 1,955 parents and 1,520 students at 23 middle schools in southern West Virginia were surveyed concerning their perceptions of and aspirations for postsecondary education. Findings indicate that students and their parents had a generally positive view of their academic abilities and efforts. Parent involvement in school-based activities was limited. Students felt fairly confident and successful about their learning. However, they did not view their learning as interesting or exciting or believe that teachers valued their thoughts or feelings. Student and parent aspirations for postsecondary education were high, but students did not have a real understanding of what they should be doing to prepare for college. Students viewed parents and teachers as their best sources of information about academic choices, but only about a third of parents were familiar with high school graduation and college entrance requirements. Very few students and parents had a realistic estimate of tuition expense at a 4-year in-state public college. Recommendations are offered to program staff concerning information dissemination to students and parents, parent training, and data collection. (Contains 18 references and the survey questionnaire.) (TD)