A study and analysis was done of the contributions that open-admissions at City University of New York (CUNY) have made to the development and growth of a college educated class of men and women, especially minorities. In particular the analysis examined the marital, education, and economic contexts in which the children of participants in open-admissions CUNY are living and considered the implications of these contexts for their life chances. The study used data from a longitudinal research effort launched when open admissions started at CUNY in the fall of 1970. Large samples of the first three freshman classes to enter after the program began were surveyed by questionnaire with response rates as follows: 1970, 43 percent of 31,596 entrants; 1971, 24 percent of 35,639 entrants; and 1972, 36 percent of 35,545 entrants. Survey data were integrated with students' official academic records including high school background, academic performance at CUNY, and graduation as of spring 1975. Results of the analysis produced an incomplete picture though data did indicate that often opportunities created by open admissions were used to advantage. However, open admissions did not erase the effects of prior disadvantage or subsequent institutional constraints. Overall results showed that social policies are often constrained by larger circles of disadvantage. (41 references) (JB)