This study examined the quality of students who continue in teacher education programs after completing the introductory courses. The purpose was to compare their academic proficiency with a group of students who had completed the same courses but did not continue on to teacher certification. Subjects were 74 graduates who went on to complete certification and 48 who did not. Data were gathered from student transcripts including grades from five core courses, total number of university credits, and grade point averages. The conclusion of the study was that, with the exception of data on two variables involving the number of credits earned in science and humanities courses, the ability and academic background of education graduates was equal to or, for three variables, better than noneducation graduates who had completed at least one of two introductory courses in education but did not complete teacher certification. The results of the study challenge the assertion that poorer students continue in teacher education while better students leave. (JD)