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College Enrollment and Work Activity of 2005 High School Graduates
Technical information: (202) 691-6378 USDL 06-514
http://www.bls.gov/cps/
For release: 10:00 A.M. EST
Media contact: 691-5902 Friday, March 24, 2006
COLLEGE ENROLLMENT AND WORK ACTIVITY OF 2005 HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATES
In October 2005, 68.6 percent of high school graduates from the class of
2005 were enrolled in colleges or universities, according to data released
today by the U.S. Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics. The
college enrollment rate for recent high school graduates was a historical
high for the series dating back to 1959.
Information on school enrollment and work activity is collected monthly
in the Current Population Survey (CPS). Each October, a supplement to the
basic CPS gathers more detailed information on full-time and part-time
enrollment status, level of education, and enrollment status a year earlier.
The CPS is a monthly nationwide survey of about 60,000 households that obtains
information on employment, unemployment, earnings, demographics, and other
characteristics of the civilian noninstitutional population age 16 and over.
Additional information about the October supplement is included in the Tech-
nical Note.
Recent High School Graduates and Dropouts
Of the 2.7 million youth who graduated from high school between October
2004 and October 2005, 1.8 million (68.6 percent) were attending college in
October 2005. The college enrollment rate of young women, 70.4 percent,
continued to exceed that of young men, 66.5 percent. Asians were more likely
than whites, blacks, and Hispanics to be enrolled in college in the fall
following their high school graduation.
Among recent high school graduates enrolled in college, 91.2 percent were
full-time students. Of these full-time students, 44.3 percent were in the
labor force, either working or looking for work, in October 2005. In contrast,
79.0 percent of part-time college students participated in the labor force.
About two-thirds of the 2005 high school graduates enrolled in college
attended 4-year institutions. The labor force participation rate for these
students was 39.9 percent, and their unemployment rate was 6.3 percent. In
contrast, 61.3 percent of the recent high school graduates enrolled in 2-year
institutions were in the labor force, and their unemployment rate was 11.0 per-
cent. (See table 1.)
Recent high school graduates who were not enrolled in college in the fall
of 2005 were more likely than enrolled graduates to participate in the labor
force (78.5 versus 47.4 percent). The unemployment rate for those not en-
rolled in college was 20.6 percent in October 2005; the jobless rate for recent
high school graduates enrolled in college was 8.4 percent.
Between October 2004 and October 2005, about 400,000 young people dropped
out of high school. The labor force participation rate for these dropouts
(57.2 percent) was considerably lower than the participation rate for recent
high school graduates who had not enrolled in college (78.5 percent). Among
recent high school dropouts, men were more likely than women to be participa-
ting in the labor force in October 2005 (59.7 and 54.0 percent, respectively).
The unemployment rate for recent high school dropouts was 32.9 percent in
October 2005, and the unemployment rate of recent high school graduates who
had not enrolled in college was 20.6 percent.
- 2 -
Youth Enrolled in School
In October 2005, 20.9 million 16- to 24-year olds were either enrolled
in high school (9.9 million) or college (11.0 million). Among high school
students, 31.0 percent were engaged in some form of labor force activity in
October. Among college students who were enrolled full time, 52.7 percent
participated in the labor force. In contrast, 88.2 percent of part-time
college students participated in the labor force. (See table 2.)
Overall, the unemployment rate for high school students (17.0 percent)
was
higher than for college students (6.1 percent). Unemployment rates for
black (35.0 percent) and Hispanic (24.8 percent) high school students contin-
ued to be higher than for whites (14.9 percent). Among college students,
blacks had the highest unemployment rate (10.5 percent), while Hispanic and
white college students had similar rates (5.9 and 5.7 percent, respectively).
Asian college students had an unemployment rate of 4.6 percent in October 2005.
Out-of-School Youth
Of the 15.9 million 16- to 24-year olds not enrolled in school in
October 2005, 81.3 percent were in the labor force. Among youth not in
school, men were more likely than women to be in the labor force, 87.5
percent compared with 74.6 percent. The difference was greatest among
those with less than a high school diploma and diminished with more
education. (See table 2.)
Unemployment rates for youth not in school were lower among those with
higher education levels. The unemployment rates for youths who had college
degrees were 5.4 percent for men and 3.6 percent for women. In contrast,
youth without a high school diploma who were not enrolled in school had
unemployment rates of 15.3 percent for men and 21.2 percent for women.
- College Enrollment and Work Activity of 2005 High School Graduates Technical Note </news.release/hsgec.tn.htm>
Table 1. Labor force status of 2005 high school graduates and 2004-05 high school dropouts 16 to 24 years old by school enrollment, sex, race, and Hispanic or Latino ethnicity, October 2005 </news.release/hsgec.t01.htm>
Table 2. Labor force status of persons 16 to 24 years old by school enrollment, educational attainment, sex, race, and Hispanic or Latino ethnicity, October 2005 </news.release/hsgec.t02.htm>
Text version of entire news release <ftp://ftp.bls.gov/pub/news.release/hsgec.txt>
Table of Contents </news.release/hsgec.toc.htm>
Last Modified Date: March 24, 2006
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