First in a series on who our students are, and how they perform. The precariousness of balancing opportunity, access and excellence will be addressed in the coming weeks as the face of the university intersects the faces of students. An opportunity is a conjunction of circumstances by which one may improve his condition of life or his equipment for life. William De Witt Hyde, Vocations A long term look at high school students, as they begin and complete college or enter the workforce, is discussed in The 1988 National Education Longitudinal Study, (NELS:1998) which tracked students who started high school in 1988, graduated in 1992, and followed them until the turn of the century. The 1988: NELS Study is revealing regarding those students ...