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The Sudbury Valley School is a nontraditional private school founded in 1968 as a place where each student could be trusted fully to make every decision about how to grow into an adult. This book describes a study conducted in 1991 to determine what became of Sudbury students after they left.

Questionnaires and interviews were used to gather data from 188 former Sudbury students who were grouped by amount of time spent at Sudbury: those who attended Sudbury for their entire school lives; those who spent a major portion of their school lives, including their high school years, at Sudbury; those enrolled at Sudbury for their high school years only; and those who finished their schooling elsewhere. A section on each group contains personal perspectives and extensive demographic information, including occupations, further formal education, and travel experiences. The final section of the book compares groups, summarizes findings, and offers some final thoughts.

Data show that Sudbury students engaged in a wide variety of occupations, including management, teaching, the trades, and the arts; 87 percent of Sudbury students attended postsecondary schools; and 39 percent received college degrees, indicating that Sudbury students enjoy the full range of life choices available to other young people. Appendices include the questionnaire and three earlier studies of former Sudbury students.