A project was conducted at Gateway Vocational Technical School in Arkansas to reduce effectively the high percentage of students who discontinue vocational training before completing the course. This would be accomplished by assisting potential students with realistic career training decisions. The project involved the following four steps: (1) development and implementation of a pre-enrollment specific aptitude evaluation program for each training area offered; (2) development of basic orientation materials for use in acquainting potential students with career fields prior to enrollment and with special emphasis on non-traditional roles and promoting equal access to vocational programs; (3) further development of the job sampling process by establishing standards or norms used to predict an applicant's aptitude for a given course prior to entry, and (4) implementation of efforts to improve staff competencies, including an increased awareness of non-traditional roles through inservice training and promotion of these roles in aiding students in making career choices. Both students and staff felt that the specific career orientation evaluation has had a positive impact on potential students and staff, and despite the fact that Gateway's dropout rate is still too high, enrollment has substantially increased since the project's inception. (MN)