To test the differences in effect of postsecondary vocational training offered by public schools and by proprietary schools, a study based on a sample of 4,8000 students and graduates in the accounting, programing, electronic technician training, dental assisting, secretarial, and cosmetology occupations was designed. Even though vocational students are generally the least advantaged students in postsecondary education, the study determined that proprietary students were the least advantaged of these. Since proprietary schools offer narrowly-targeted, no-frills training in short, intensive, but flexible programs, they are frequently more attractive than comparable programs in the public schools. The study concluded that students from either type of program were liable to have their employment aspirations frustrated unless they chose to work at the lower levels of the occupational hierarchy. Hence many schools are not living up to their explicit or implicit promises of upward mobility through self-help. Recommendations for protecting vocational education consumers include: access to reliable information on vocational programs, government standards regarding program effectiveness, truth-in-advertising requirements, audits by government-appointed agencies, equal pay for equal work for women and minorities, coordinated experimentation on ways to best use all occupational training resources, and self-evaluation of program objectives. (JR)