Project Talent, Base Year Data, 1960

Project Talent is a nationally representative longitudinal study of men and women who were in high school in 1960 and who are currently in their 60s. Project Talent began as a major national effort to assess the aspirations and abilities of America's young men and women. Initiated in 1957, with support from the United States Office of Education and several other government agencies, Project Talent collected extensive information on characteristics and cognitive abilities of approximately 377,000 individuals in 1960 when they were in high school and in subsequent follow-up studies through age 30. Project Talent's large sample size, extensive background questionnaire, and cognitive measures, make it a premier study for social science research, combining aspects of multiple disciplines in a largely seamless research framework. Project Talent is uniquely suited to help inform lifecourse outcomes with a nationally representative sample and the power to unpack disparities in health and other characteristics and abilities.