Several public policy issues, particularly the ebb and flow of nonpublic school enrollment at elementary and secondary levels and the causes and implications of those fluctuations, were studied. The research consisted of a state-wide analysis and 12 case studies of nonpublic education in Louisiana. The eight chapters are organized into two major sections. Part 1, which included Chapters 1 through 4, presents the state-wide analysis, and Part II, Chapters 5 through 8, contains the Illustrative Materials, which are four of the case studies that cover topics of general interest. Results of the study show that while a "crisis of confidence" appears to characterize patrons and sponsors of Catholic schools nationally, no comparable phenomenon was encountered in Louisiana. It is suggested that the impressive holding power of nonpublic schools in this State may be partly attributal to specific nonracial problems facing public schools in some areas, to unique contributions of Catholic schools catering primarily to black patrons, to a relatively moderate rate of migration by Catholics from the cities to the suburbs, to a recent disproportionate population increase in the Southeast, and to a slight tendency to draw patrons from a higher income strata than the national norm for Catholic schools, (For related document, see ED 058 473.) (DB)