<P> The Monitoring the Future (MTF) study, also known as the National High School Senior Survey, is a long - term epidemiological study that surveys trends in legal and illicit drug use among American adolescents and adults as well as personal levels of perceived risk and disapproval for each drug . The survey is conducted by researchers at the University of Michigan's Institute for Social Research, funded by research grants from the National Institute on Drug Abuse, one of the National Institutes of Health . </P> <P> The survey began in 1975 and only focused on that year's senior class . Questionnaires are sent out yearly by mail . Beginning in 1976, a proportion of survey participants were also chosen for biennial reevaluations . In 1991, the survey was expanded to include 8th and 10th grade students . The questionnaire is anonymous for 8th - and 10th - grade students while the questionnaire for 12th - grade students is confidential--name and address information is collected for longitudinal follow - up surveys . </P>

The monitoring the future national survey is collected by which university