This paper estimates logistic response models of the effects of parental socioeconomic characteristics and family structure on the probability of making selected school transitions for white American males. The analysis shows that parental socioeconomic effects decline sharply from the earliest school transitions to the latest. The paper discusses the implications of differential socioeconomic background effects over schooling levels for understanding changes in the level and distribution of schooling. Prior to labor market entry, schooling is not a fixed status but a sequence of age-graded events. Schooling transitions are influenced by social background factors such as family structure and socioeconomic status. The paper argues that these effects should vary systematically across levels of schooling. The analysis uses data from the 1973 Occupational Changes in a Generation (OCG) Survey and a 1964 survey of U.S. military veterans to examine the effects of family structure and socioeconomic status on school continuation decisions for white American men born in the first half of the twentieth century. The paper finds that the effects of parental socioeconomic characteristics on school continuation decisions decline over schooling levels. This is due to changes in the interval over which there is greatest variance in educational attainment. For cohorts born early in the century, most of the variation in grades of school completed is below the college level. Later cohorts experience close to universal high school graduation, with variation in school completion levels occurring primarily in the post-secondary years. If family background effects are not invariant over schooling levels, but instead are stronger in the earlier years of schooling, then the overall effect of social background on grades of schooling should gradually decline. The paper also discusses the importance of examining family background effects on the separate school continuation decisions that constitute total grades of school completed. This helps to deepen our understanding of how educational attainment depends on family structure and socioeconomic characteristics. The analysis shows that the effects of family background on school continuation decisions vary systematically across levels of schooling. The results indicate that the effects of parental socioeconomic characteristics on school continuation decisions decline over schooling levels. The paper concludes that the relationships between social background and the sequence of school continuation decisions are important components of the process of educational stratification and a basis for understanding its changes.This paper estimates logistic response models of the effects of parental socioeconomic characteristics and family structure on the probability of making selected school transitions for white American males. The analysis shows that parental socioeconomic effects decline sharply from the earliest school transitions to the latest. The paper discusses the implications of differential socioeconomic background effects over schooling levels for understanding changes in the level and distribution of schooling. Prior to labor market entry, schooling is not a fixed status but a sequence of age-graded events. Schooling transitions are influenced by social background factors such as family structure and socioeconomic status. The paper argues that these effects should vary systematically across levels of schooling. The analysis uses data from the 1973 Occupational Changes in a Generation (OCG) Survey and a 1964 survey of U.S. military veterans to examine the effects of family structure and socioeconomic status on school continuation decisions for white American men born in the first half of the twentieth century. The paper finds that the effects of parental socioeconomic characteristics on school continuation decisions decline over schooling levels. This is due to changes in the interval over which there is greatest variance in educational attainment. For cohorts born early in the century, most of the variation in grades of school completed is below the college level. Later cohorts experience close to universal high school graduation, with variation in school completion levels occurring primarily in the post-secondary years. If family background effects are not invariant over schooling levels, but instead are stronger in the earlier years of schooling, then the overall effect of social background on grades of schooling should gradually decline. The paper also discusses the importance of examining family background effects on the separate school continuation decisions that constitute total grades of school completed. This helps to deepen our understanding of how educational attainment depends on family structure and socioeconomic characteristics. The analysis shows that the effects of family background on school continuation decisions vary systematically across levels of schooling. The results indicate that the effects of parental socioeconomic characteristics on school continuation decisions decline over schooling levels. The paper concludes that the relationships between social background and the sequence of school continuation decisions are important components of the process of educational stratification and a basis for understanding its changes.