Technical information: (202) 691-6378

 http://www.bls.gov/cps/

Media contact: 691-5902

USDL 07-0604

For release: 10:00 A.M. EDT

Thursday, April 26, 2007

COLLEGE ENROLLMENT AND WORK ACTIVITY OF

2006 HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATES

In October 2006, 65.8 percent of high school graduates from the class of 2006 were enrolled in colleges or universities, according to data released today by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor

Statistics. Since 2001, the college enrollment rate for recent high school graduates has been trending

upward.

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 Technical Note.

Recent High School Graduates and Dropouts

Of the 2.5 million youth who graduated from high school between October 2005 and October 2006, 1.6

million (65.8 percent) were attending college in October 2006. The college enrollment rate of young women,

66.0 percent, was about the same as that of young men, 65.5 percent. Asians were considerably 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, 92.3 percent were full-time students. Of these

full-time students, 40.8 percent were in the labor force, either working or looking for work, in October 2006.

In contrast, 81.0 percent of part-time college students participated in the labor force.

More than 6 in 10 recent high school graduates who were enrolled in college attended 4-year institutions.

The labor force participation rate for these students was 35.0 percent, and their unemployment rate was 5.5

percent. In contrast, 58.8 percent of recent high school graduates enrolled in 2-year institutions were in the

labor force, and their unemployment rate was 11.5 percent. (See table 1.)

Recent high school graduates who were not enrolled in college in the fall of 2006 were more likely than

enrolled graduates to be in the labor force (76.4 versus 43.9 percent). The unemployment rate for those not

enrolled in college was 25.0 percent in October 2006, compared with 8.5 percent for their counterparts who

were enrolled in college (either 2- or 4-year institutions).

Between October 2005 and October 2006, about 444,000 young people dropped out of high school.

The labor force participation rate for these dropouts (51.4 percent) was considerably lower than the partici-
2

pation rate for recent high school graduates who had not enrolled in college (76.4 percent). The unemployment rate for recent high school dropouts (23.1 percent) was about the same as that for recent high school

graduates who were not enrolled in college (25.0 percent). Among recent high school dropouts, young men

were more likely than young women to be participating in the labor force in October 2006 (56.0 and 45.1

percent, respectively).

Youth Enrolled in School

In October 2006, 20.8 million 16- to 24-year olds were either enrolled in high school (10.3 million)

or college (10.5 million). Among high school students, 31.4 percent were engaged in some form of labor

force activity in October. Among college students, 49.4 percent of those who were enrolled full time also

participated in the labor force, while 85.8 percent of part-time college students were in the labor force.

(See table 2.)

Overall, the unemployment rate for high school students (14.5 percent) was higher than for college students (5.7 percent). Unemployment rates for black (23.5 percent) and Hispanic (19.3 percent) high school

students continued to be higher than for whites (12.2 percent). Among college students, blacks had the highest unemployment rate (11.2 percent), while Hispanic and white college students had rates that were about

equal (5.4 and 5.3 percent, respectively).

Out-of-School Youth

Of the 16.3 million 16- to 24-year olds not enrolled in school in October 2006, 81.8 percent were in

the labor force. Among youth not in school, men were more likely than women to be in the labor force,

87.9 percent compared with 75.1 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 7.6 percent for men and 5.0 percent for women. In contrast, youths without a high school diploma who were not enrolled in school had unemployment

rates of 12.6 percent for men and 25.9 percent for women.
Technical Note

The estimates in this release were obtained from a

supplement to the October 2006 Current Population Survey

(CPS), a monthly survey of about 60,000 households which

provides information on the labor force, employment, and

unemployment for the nation. The survey is conducted

monthly for the Bureau of Labor Statistics by the U.S. Census

Bureau. Data relate to the school enrollment status

of persons 16 to 24 years of age in the civilian noninstitutional population in the calendar week that includes

the 12th of the month. Data reflect revised population

controls for the Current Population Survey introduced in

January 2006.

Information in this release will be made available to sensory

impaired individuals upon request. Voice phone: 202-691-5200;

TDD message referral phone number: 1-800-877-8339.

Reliability of the estimates

Statistics based on the CPS are subject to both sampling and

nonsampling error. When a sample, rather than the entire

population, is surveyed, there is a chance that the sample

estimates may differ from the “true” population values they

represent. The exact difference, or sampling error, varies

depending on the particular sample selected, and this variability

is measured by the standard error of the estimate. There is

about a 90-percent chance, or level of confidence, that an

estimate based on a sample will differ by no more than 1.6

standard errors from the “true” population value because of

sampling error. BLS analyses are generally conducted at the 90-

percent level of confidence.

The CPS data also are affected by nonsampling error.

Nonsampling error can occur for many reasons, including the

failure to sample a segment of the population, inability to obtain

information for all respondents in the sample, inability or

unwillingness of respondents to provide correct information, and errors made in the collection or processing of the

data.

For a full discussion of the reliability of data from the CPS

and information on estimating standard errors, see the

“Explanatory Notes and Estimates of Error” section of

Employment and Earnings.

Concepts

The principal concepts used in connection with the school

enrollment series are described briefly below.

School enrollment. Respondents were asked whether they

were currently enrolled in a regular school, including day or

night school in any type of public, parochial, or other private

school. Regular schooling is that which may advance a person

toward a high school diploma or a college, university, or

professional degree. Such schools include elementary schools,

junior or senior high schools, and colleges and universities.

Other schooling, including trade schools; on-the-job training;

and courses that do not require physical presence in school,

such as correspondence courses or other courses of independent study, is included only if the credits granted count

towards promotion in regular school.

Full-time and part-time enrollment in college. College

students are classified as attending full time if they were taking

12 hours of classes or more (or 9 hours of graduate classes)

during an average school week and as part time if they were

taking fewer hours.

High school graduation status. Persons who were not

enrolled in school at the time of the survey were asked

whether they had graduated from high school. Those who

had graduated were asked when they completed their high

school education. Persons who had not graduated, that is,

school dropouts, were asked when they last attended a regular

school. Those who were enrolled in college at the time of the

survey also were asked when they graduated from high school.
Table 1. Labor force status of 2006 high school graduates and 2005-06 high school dropouts 16 to 24 years old 

by school enrollment, sex, race, and Hispanic or Latino ethnicity, October 2006

(Numbers in thousands)

Characteristic

Civilian

noninstitutional

population

Civilian labor force

Not in

labor

Total force Percent of

population

Employed Unemployed

Total Percent of

population Number Rate

Total, 2006 high school graduates 1 ........... 2,495 1,372 55.0 1,148 46.0 224 16.4 1,123

 Men ........................................................... 1,251 657 52.5 534 42.7 122 18.7 595

 Women ..................................................... 1,243 716 57.5 614 49.3 102 14.2 528

 White ........................................................ 1,987 1,144 57.6 977 49.2 166 14.5 843

 Black or African American ........................ 309 150 48.7 97 31.4 53 35.6 158

 Asian ......................................................... 125 45 35.9 43 34.7 2 2 ( ) 80

 Hispanic or Latino ethnicity ....................... 353 199 56.4 171 48.5 28 13.9 154

 Enrolled in college .................................... 1,641 720 43.9 659 40.2 61 8.5 921

 Enrolled in 2-year college ....................... 612 360 58.8 318 52.1 41 11.5 252

 Enrolled in 4-year college ....................... 1,029 360 35.0 340 33.1 20 5.5 669

 Full-time students ................................... 1,514 617 40.8 569 37.6 48 7.7 897

 Part-time students .................................. 127 102 81.0 89 70.5 13 12.9 24

 Men ......................................................... 820 316 38.5 287 34.9 30 9.3 504

 Women ................................................... 820 404 49.2 372 45.4 31 7.8 416

 White ...................................................... 1,322 605 45.7 563 42.5 42 6.9 718

 Black or African American ...................... 170 64 37.9 49 28.7 16 2 ( ) 105

 Asian ....................................................... 103 33 31.7 32 30.7 1 2 ( ) 70

 Hispanic or Latino ethnicity ..................... 206 92 44.6 82 40.0 9 10.1 114

 Not enrolled in college .............................. 854 652 76.4 489 57.2 163 25.0 202

 Men ......................................................... 431 341 79.0 248 57.5 93 27.3 90

 Women ................................................... 423 312 73.7 241 57.0 70 22.6 111

 White ...................................................... 664 539 81.2 415 62.4 124 23.1 125

 Black or African American ...................... 139 86 61.9 48 34.7 38 44.0 53

 Asian ....................................................... 22 12 2 ( ) 12 2 () 1 2 ( ) 10

 Hispanic or Latino ethnicity ..................... 147 107 72.9 89 60.4 18 17.2 40

Total, 2005-06 high school dropouts 3 ....... 444 228 51.4 176 39.5 53 23.1 216

 Men ........................................................... 257 144 56.0 117 45.5 27 18.9 113

 Women ..................................................... 187 85 45.1 59 31.4 26 30.4 103

 White ........................................................ 334 178 53.2 144 43.0 34 19.2 156

 Black or African American ........................ 79 36 45.6 21 26.8 15 2 ( ) 43

 Asian ......................................................... 19 8 2 () 8 2 () – 2 ( ) 11

 Hispanic or Latino ethnicity ....................... 137 64 47.1 47 34.4 17 2 ( ) 72

1 Data refer to persons who graduated from high school between October

2005 and October 2006.

2 Data not shown where base is less than 75,000. 3 Data refer to persons who dropped out of school between October 2005

and October 2006.

 NOTE: Detail for the above race groups (white, black or African American,

and Asian) do not sum to totals because data are not presented for all races. 

In addition, persons whose ethnicity is identified as Hispanic or Latino may be

of any race and, therefore, are classified by ethnicity as well as by race. 

Because of rounding, sums of individual items may not equal totals. Dash

represents or rounds to zero. Data reflect revised population controls for the

Current Population Survey introduced in January 2006.
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 2006

(Numbers in thousands)

Characteristic

Civilian

noninstitutional

population

Civilian labor force

Not in

labor

Total force Percent of

population

Employed Unemployed

Total Percent of

population Number Rate

 Total, 16 to 24 years ............................... 37,047 22,300 60.2 20,016 54.0 2,285 10.2 14,746

Enrolled in school ....................................... 20,797 9,001 43.3 8,204 39.4 797 8.9 11,796

 Enrolled in high school 1 ........................... 10,315 3,235 31.4 2,767 26.8 468 14.5 7,080

 Men ......................................................... 5,283 1,587 30.0 1,343 25.4 244 15.4 3,696

 Women ................................................... 5,032 1,648 32.7 1,424 28.3 224 13.6 3,384

 White ...................................................... 7,807 2,639 33.8 2,318 29.7 321 12.2 5,168

 Black or African American ...................... 1,724 419 24.3 321 18.6 99 23.5 1,305

 Asian ....................................................... 341 55 16.1 48 14.0 7 2 ( ) 286

 Hispanic or Latino ethnicity ..................... 1,720 342 19.9 276 16.1 66 19.3 1,377

 Enrolled in college .................................... 10,482 5,766 55.0 5,437 51.9 329 5.7 4,716

 Enrolled in 2-year college ....................... 2,705 1,753 64.8 1,636 60.5 117 6.7 952

 Enrolled in 4-year college ....................... 7,777 4,013 51.6 3,801 48.9 212 5.3 3,764

 Full-time students ................................... 8,869 4,382 49.4 4,129 46.6 253 5.8 4,487

 Part-time students .................................. 1,613 1,384 85.8 1,308 81.1 75 5.4 230

 Men ......................................................... 4,859 2,586 53.2 2,424 49.9 163 6.3 2,273

 Women ................................................... 5,623 3,179 56.5 3,013 53.6 166 5.2 2,444

 White ...................................................... 8,190 4,650 56.8 4,405 53.8 245 5.3 3,540

 Black or African American ...................... 1,303 635 48.7 564 43.2 71 11.2 669

 Asian ....................................................... 670 282 42.1 279 41.7 3 0.9 388

 Hispanic or Latino ethnicity ..................... 1,198 717 59.8 678 56.6 39 5.4 481

Not enrolled in school ................................. 16,250 13,299 81.8 11,811 72.7 1,488 11.2 2,950

 16 to 19 years ........................................... 3,074 2,238 72.8 1,798 58.5 440 19.6 836

 20 to 24 years ........................................... 13,176 11,061 84.0 10,013 76.0 1,048 9.5 2,114

 Men ........................................................... 8,564 7,530 87.9 6,692 78.1 838 11.1 1,034

 Less than a high school diploma ............ 1,925 1,528 79.4 1,335 69.4 193 12.6 397

 High school graduates, no college 3 ....... 4,008 3,531 88.1 3,079 76.8 452 12.8 477

 Some college or associate degree ......... 1,674 1,567 93.7 1,444 86.3 124 7.9 106

 Bachelor’s degree and higher 4 .............. 958 903 94.3 834 87.1 69 7.6 55

 Women ..................................................... 7,686 5,769 75.1 5,119 66.6 650 11.3 1,916

 Less than a high school diploma ............ 1,506 796 52.9 590 39.2 206 25.9 709

 High school graduates, no college 3 ....... 3,147 2,295 72.9 2,008 63.8 287 12.5 852

 Some college or associate degree ......... 1,903 1,626 85.5 1,522 80.0 105 6.4 276

 Bachelor’s degree and higher 4 .............. 1,130 1,052 93.0 999 88.4 53 5.0 79

 White ........................................................ 12,769 10,636 83.3 9,643 75.5 993 9.3 2,133

 Black or African American ........................ 2,418 1,866 77.2 1,447 59.9 418 22.4 552

 Asian ......................................................... 455 340 74.6 316 69.4 23 6.9 116

 Hispanic or Latino ethnicity ....................... 3,518 2,742 77.9 2,506 71.2 236 8.6 776

1 Includes a small number of persons enrolled in grades below high

school.

2 Data not shown where base is less than 75,000. 3 Includes persons with a high school diploma or equivalent. 4 Includes persons with a bachelor’s, master’s, professional, and doctoral

degrees.

 NOTE: Detail for the above race groups (white, black or African American,

and Asian) do not sum to totals because data are not presented for all races. 

In addition, persons whose ethnicity is identified as Hispanic or Latino may be

of any race and, therefore, are classified by ethnicity as well as by race. 

Because of rounding, sums of individual items may not equal totals. Data

reflect revised population controls for the Current Population Survey

introduced in January 2006.