You can do this without VBA. On another sheet (call it Sheet2), list the
student names the way they appear on the main sheet. On Sheet2, select all
the names, then name that range Students (In the Name Box, which is where the
cell's address is displayed next to the Formula Bar). In another cell, on
either the main sheet or on Sheet2, create a dropdown list in a cell using
Data Validation. In the Data Validation dialog, select List for the Allow
option, and in the Source box enter =Students. Name the cell with the
dropdown list CurrStudent. On the main sheet, select all the cells. Add
conditional formatting where this formula is true:
=(INDIRECT(ADDRESS(ROW(),1))=CurrStudent)

Pick the formatting you want applied, then click OK to close the Conditional
Formatting dialog. When you select a name from the CurrStudent dropdown, all
the rows with that sudent's name will be highlighted.

My conditional formatting formula assumes the students' names are in column
A (represented by the 1, which is the column number). Edit as needed.

Hope this helps,

Hutch

"CJ Melo" wrote:

I would like to highlight rows in Excel 2003 based on the entry in a column
which happens to be a student's name. I would like to be able to have excel
check a list of names automatically and highlight all the rows that pertain
to that student so I don't have to type in each name in the conditional
formatting box, which I understand is limited to 3 criteria.

I know nothing about VBA or any other kind of programming. Is this possible?