This study reflects the findings of previous studies that have found educational and occupational goals to be dominant among adolescents. Additional goals idenified were: to establish independence, begin a family, secure material goods, and become self-fulfilled. The perception of control over their lives was generally high, and they anticipated reaching most of their goals before age 33. The authors advise that since this study involved high-school seniors about to graduate, the findings may not reflect the life goals of adolescents in general. Across all ethnic groups, the average long-term education goal was to go to a 4-year college. On average, females of all ethnicities rated their education goals of higher priority than males. Contrary to hypotheses, females from East/Southeast Asian and Latino groups that are traditionally assumed to be more family-oriented chose fewer family-related goals than male counterparts, who chose family-related goals more than other ethnic groups. There were significant ethnic differences in expectations about actually finishing college. Latino students reported relatively lower long-term education expectations. Socioeconomic status had a more detrimental effect on Latino adolescents' educational goals. The study was based on the first wave of data collected in a longitudinal study of personal and social resources and liabilities of high-school seniors who were all within 1 month of graduation in the spring of 2002. The final sample consisted of 932 students with a mean age of 17.8 years. Six ethnic groups were represented: White, African-American, Mexican-American, other Latino-Americans, Filipino-Americans, and East/Southeast Asian-Americans. 4 tables, 1 figure, and 45 references