Panel studies examined changes in the educational and occupational aspirations of 191 rural Ohio youth. The 1988 survey questions were similar to those asked in a study conducted 3 years earlier when subjects were 10th and 12th graders. Major findings were: (1) the influence of school personnel on student career and curriculum choices was less than that of parents and friends, and declined from 1985 to 1988; (2) mother's educational attainment was related to student plans to attend college and the type of college chosen; (3) overall aspirations and salary expectations increased from 1985 to 1988, while desired occupations more nearly approximated expected occupations; (4) high school seniors were more confident of fulfilling their goals than either sophomores or graduates; (5) females had career expectations equivalent to males but expected lower salaries; (6) students in the academic curriculum had much higher occupational aspirations than those in the vocational curriculum, but the difference narrowed somewhat after high school graduation; and (7) although vocational students were much less likely than academic students to attend college, nearly half of the vocational students had higher education plans. (SV)