For release 10:00 a.m. (EDT) Thursday, April 16, 2015 USDL-15-0608 

Technical information: (202) 691-6378 • cpsinfo@bls.gov • www.bls.gov/cps 

Media contact: (202) 691-5902 • PressOffice@bls.gov 

COLLEGE ENROLLMENT AND WORK ACTIVITY OF 

2014 HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATES

In October 2014, 68.4 percent of 2014 high school graduates were enrolled in colleges or universities, 

the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Recent high school graduates not enrolled in college 

in October 2014 were almost twice as likely as enrolled graduates to be working or looking for work 

(72.7 percent compared with 37.9 percent). 

Information on school enrollment and work activity is collected monthly in the Current Population 

Survey (CPS), a nationwide survey of about 60,000 households that provides information on 

employment and unemployment. Each October, a supplement to the CPS gathers more detailed 

information about school enrollment, such as full- and part-time enrollment status. Additional 

information about the October supplement is included in the Technical Note. 

Recent High School Graduates and Dropouts

Of the 2.9 million youth age 16 to 24 who graduated from high school between January and October 

2014, about 2.0 million (68.4 percent) were enrolled in college in October. The college enrollment rate 

of recent high school graduates in October 2014 was little different from the rate in October 2013 (65.9 

percent). For 2014 graduates, the college enrollment rate was 72.7 percent for young women and 64.0 

percent for young men. The college enrollment rate of Asians (86.1 percent) was higher than for recent 

black (70.9 percent), white (67.3 percent), and Hispanic (65.2 percent) graduates. (See table 1.)

The labor force participation rate (the proportion of the population working or looking for work) for 

recent high school graduates enrolled in college was 37.9 percent. The participation rates for male and 

female graduates enrolled in college were 36.1 percent and 39.5 percent, respectively. 

Among recent high school graduates enrolled in college in October 2014, about 9 in 10 were full-time 

students. Recent graduates enrolled as full-time students were about half as likely to be in the labor force 

(34.8 percent) as were their peers enrolled part time (75.2 percent). 

About 2 in 3 recent high school graduates enrolled in college attended 4-year colleges. Of these students, 

31.6 percent participated in the labor force, compared with 49.1 percent of recent graduates enrolled in 

2-year colleges.

Recent high school graduates not enrolled in college in the fall of 2014 were much more likely than 

enrolled graduates to be in the labor force (72.7 percent compared with 37.9 percent). The 
unemployment rate for recent high school graduates not enrolled in school was 28.8 percent, almost 

twice the rate of recent graduates enrolled in college (14.5 percent).

Between October 2013 and October 2014, 575,000 young people dropped out of high school. The labor 

force participation rate for recent dropouts (41.2 percent) was much lower than for recent high school 

graduates not enrolled in college (72.7 percent). The jobless rate for recent high school dropouts was 

30.3 percent, similar to the rate for recent high school graduates not enrolled in college (28.8 percent). 

All Youth Enrolled in High School or College

In October 2014, 56.4 percent of the nation's 16- to -24 year olds, or 21.8 million young people, were 

enrolled in high school (9.4 million) or in college (12.3 million). The labor force participation rate (38.0 

percent) of youth enrolled in school was essentially unchanged from October 2013 to October 2014. The 

unemployment rate for this group declined over the year from 11.7 percent to 10.1 percent. (See table 2.)

In October 2014, college students continued to be more likely to participate in the labor force than high 

school students (50.0 percent compared with 22.3 percent). Those attending college full time had a much 

lower labor force participation rate than did part-time students (44.7 percent versus 85.7 percent). For 

high school and college students, Asians were less likely to participate in the labor force than blacks, 

whites, or Hispanics. Female college students were more likely to be in the labor force (53.5 percent) 

than their male counterparts (46.0 percent). Labor force participation rates for female and male high 

school students were similar (23.7 percent and 21.0 percent, respectively). 

The unemployment rate for high school students, at 18.4 percent in October 2014, was more than twice 

the rate for college students (7.3 percent). Unemployment rates for black (28.6 percent) and Hispanic 

(27.8 percent) high school students continued to be higher than for white high school students (15.5 

percent). 

All Youth Not Enrolled in School

In October 2014, 16.9 million persons age 16 to 24 were not enrolled in school. The labor force 

participation rate of youth not enrolled in school increased over the year from 77.7 percent to 78.9 

percent. Among youth not enrolled in school in October 2014, young men continued to be more likely 

than young women to participate in the labor force—83.1 percent compared with 74.4 percent. Labor 

force participation rates for not-enrolled men and women were highest for those with a bachelor’s 

degree or higher (93.5 percent and 91.8 percent, respectively) and lowest for men and women with less 

than a high school diploma (68.0 percent and 54.0 percent, respectively). (See table 2.) 

The unemployment rate for youth age 16 to 24 not enrolled in school declined over the year from 16.1 

percent to 13.7 percent. Among not-enrolled youth who did not have a high school diploma, 

unemployment rates in October 2014 were 24.6 percent for young men and 32.1 percent for young 

women. In contrast, the jobless rates of young men and women with at least a bachelor's degree were 8.0 

percent and 7.8 percent, respectively. Black youth not enrolled in school had an unemployment rate of 

23.7 percent in October 2014, higher than the rates for their white (11.4 percent), Asian (12.8 percent), 

and Hispanic (12.8 percent) counterparts. 

- 2 - 
Technical Note 

The estimates in this release were obtained from a 

supplement to the October 2014 Current Population Survey 

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

that 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 in this release 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 

October. Updated population controls for the Current 

Population Survey are introduced annually with the release of 

January data. Additional information about population controls 

is available on the BLS website at 

www.bls.gov/cps/documentation.htm#pop. 

Information in this release will be made available to 

sensory impaired individuals upon request. Voice phone: (202) 

691-5200; Federal Relay Service: (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 component of this difference that occurs because 

samples differ by chance is known as sampling error, and 

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. 

Additional information about the reliability of data from 

the CPS and estimating standard errors is available at 

www.bls.gov/cps/documentation.htm#reliability. 

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. 

Recent high school graduates. Persons who completed 

high school in the calendar year of the survey (January through 

October) are recent high school graduates. 

Recent high school dropouts. Persons who were not 

enrolled in school at the time of the survey, attended school a 

year earlier, and did not have a high school diploma are recent 

dropouts. 
[Numbers in thousands]

Total Percent of 

population Number Rate

RECENT HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATES

Total, 2014 high school graduates1 ......................... 2,868 1,403 48.9 1,105 38.5 298 21.2 1,465 

 Men ...................................................................... 1,423 719 50.5 568 39.9 152 21.1 704 

 Women ................................................................. 1,445 684 47.3 538 37.2 146 21.4 761 

 White .................................................................... 2,167 1,101 50.8 866 40.0 234 21.3 1,066 

 Black or African American .................................... 371 171 46.0 131 35.3 40 23.3 200 

 Asian .................................................................... 137 43 31.2 40 29.3 3 – 94 

 Hispanic or Latino ethnicity .................................. 566 306 54.0 231 40.8 75 24.5 260 

Enrolled in college

Total, enrolled in college ......................................... 1,961 744 37.9 636 32.4 108 14.5 1,217 

 Enrolled in 2-year college ..................................... 706 347 49.1 291 41.2 56 16.1 359 

 Enrolled in 4-year college ..................................... 1,254 397 31.6 345 27.5 52 13.0 858 

 Full-time students ................................................. 1,810 630 34.8 537 29.7 93 14.8 1,180 

 Part-time students ................................................ 151 113 75.2 99 65.6 14 12.8 37 

 Men ...................................................................... 911 329 36.1 300 32.9 29 8.9 582 

 Women ................................................................. 1,050 415 39.5 336 32.0 78 18.9 635 

 White .................................................................... 1,459 586 40.1 517 35.5 68 11.7 873 

 Black or African American .................................... 263 96 36.3 67 25.4 29 30.1 168 

 Asian .................................................................... 118 25 21.6 25 21.6 – – 92 

 Hispanic or Latino ethnicity .................................. 369 181 49.2 153 41.3 29 15.9 188 

Not enrolled in college

Total, not enrolled in college ................................... 907 659 72.7 469 51.7 190 28.8 248 

 Men ...................................................................... 512 390 76.2 268 52.3 122 31.4 122 

 Women ................................................................. 395 269 68.0 201 50.9 68 25.1 126 

 White .................................................................... 708 515 72.7 349 49.3 166 32.2 193 

 Black or African American .................................... 107 75 69.9 64 59.7 11 14.7 32 

 Asian .................................................................... 19 17 – 15 – 3 – 2 

 Hispanic or Latino ethnicity .................................. 197 124 63.1 79 39.8 46 36.9 73 

RECENT HIGH SCHOOL DROPOUTS

Total, 2013-14 high school dropouts2 ...................... 575 237 41.2 165 28.7 72 30.3 338 

 Men ...................................................................... 309 125 40.6 79 25.5 47 37.2 183 

 Women ................................................................. 266 111 41.9 86 32.5 25 22.4 154 

 White .................................................................... 436 179 41.0 135 31.0 44 24.5 257 

 Black or African American .................................... 86 38 44.6 15 17.5 23 – 47 

 Asian .................................................................... 5 2 – 2 – – – 3 

 Hispanic or Latino ethnicity .................................. 182 81 44.5 62 34.2 19 23.2 101 

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. 

Persons whose ethnicity is identified as Hispanic or Latino may be of any race. Updated population controls are introduced annually with the release of 

January data. Dash indicates no data or data that do not meet publication criteria (values not shown where base is less than 75,000).

1 Data refer to persons who graduated from high school in January through October 2014.

2 Data refer to persons who dropped out of school between October 2013 and October 2014.

Table 1. Labor force status of 2014 high school graduates and 2013-14 high school dropouts 16 to 24 years old by school enrollment, 

educational attainment, sex, race, and Hispanic or Latino ethnicity, October 2014

Characteristic Unemployed

Civilian 

noninstitutional 

population

Civilian labor force

Not in 

Total labor force Percent of 

population

Employed
[Numbers in thousands]

Total Percent of 

population Number Rate

Total, 16 to 24 years ................................................ 38,650 21,589 55.9 18,924 49.0 2,666 12.3 17,061 

Enrolled in school

Total, enrolled in school ........................................... 21,790 8,279 38.0 7,441 34.2 837 10.1 13,511 

 Enrolled in high school1 ........................................ 9,445 2,109 22.3 1,722 18.2 387 18.4 7,335 

 Men .................................................................... 4,883 1,027 21.0 830 17.0 197 19.1 3,856 

 Women ............................................................... 4,562 1,083 23.7 892 19.6 191 17.6 3,479 

 White .................................................................. 6,974 1,630 23.4 1,377 19.7 253 15.5 5,343 

 Black or African American .................................. 1,459 292 20.0 208 14.3 84 28.6 1,167 

 Asian .................................................................. 466 43 9.3 41 8.9 2 – 422 

 Hispanic or Latino ethnicity ................................ 2,056 358 17.4 258 12.6 100 27.8 1,698 

 Enrolled in college ................................................. 12,345 6,169 50.0 5,719 46.3 450 7.3 6,176 

 Enrolled in 2-year college ................................... 3,288 1,936 58.9 1,752 53.3 184 9.5 1,351 

 Enrolled in 4-year college ................................... 9,057 4,233 46.7 3,967 43.8 266 6.3 4,824 

 Full-time students ............................................... 10,752 4,804 44.7 4,439 41.3 364 7.6 5,948 

 Part-time students .............................................. 1,594 1,365 85.7 1,280 80.3 86 6.3 228 

 Men .................................................................... 5,790 2,665 46.0 2,469 42.6 196 7.4 3,125 

 Women ............................................................... 6,556 3,505 53.5 3,251 49.6 254 7.2 3,051 

 White .................................................................. 9,212 4,918 53.4 4,599 49.9 319 6.5 4,295 

 Black or African American .................................. 1,577 709 45.0 608 38.6 101 14.3 868 

 Asian .................................................................. 1,039 337 32.5 323 31.1 14 4.1 701 

 Hispanic or Latino ethnicity ................................ 2,331 1,255 53.8 1,146 49.2 109 8.7 1,076 

Not enrolled in school

Total, not enrolled in school ..................................... 16,861 13,311 78.9 11,482 68.1 1,828 13.7 3,550 

 16 to 19 years ....................................................... 3,198 2,140 66.9 1,675 52.4 465 21.7 1,058 

 20 to 24 years ....................................................... 13,663 11,171 81.8 9,807 71.8 1,364 12.2 2,492 

 Men ....................................................................... 8,812 7,320 83.1 6,363 72.2 956 13.1 1,492 

 Less than a high school diploma ........................ 1,389 944 68.0 711 51.2 233 24.6 445 

 High school graduates, no college 2 ................... 4,269 3,511 82.2 3,025 70.9 486 13.8 758 

 Some college or associate degree ..................... 2,142 1,919 89.6 1,757 82.0 162 8.5 223 

 Bachelor's degree and higher 3 .......................... 1,012 946 93.5 871 86.0 75 8.0 66 

 Women .................................................................. 8,049 5,991 74.4 5,119 63.6 872 14.6 2,058 

 Less than a high school diploma ........................ 1,138 615 54.0 418 36.7 197 32.1 523 

 High school graduates, no college 2 ................... 3,198 2,196 68.7 1,803 56.4 393 17.9 1,002 

 Some college or associate degree ..................... 2,242 1,830 81.6 1,654 73.8 176 9.6 412 

 Bachelor's degree and higher 3 .......................... 1,470 1,349 91.8 1,244 84.6 106 7.8 121 

 White ..................................................................... 12,463 10,007 80.3 8,868 71.2 1,138 11.4 2,457 

 Black or African American ..................................... 2,912 2,153 73.9 1,642 56.4 511 23.7 760 

 Asian ..................................................................... 523 415 79.5 362 69.3 53 12.8 107 

 Hispanic or Latino ethnicity ................................... 3,958 2,961 74.8 2,582 65.2 378 12.8 997 

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. 

Persons whose ethnicity is identified as Hispanic or Latino may be of any race. Updated population controls are introduced annually with the release of 

January data. Dash indicates no data or data that do not meet publication criteria (values not shown where base is less than 75,000).

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 2014

Characteristic

Civilian Unemployed

noninstitutional 

population

Civilian labor force

Not in labor 

Total force Percent of 

population

Employed

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

2 Includes persons with a high school diploma or equivalent.

3 Includes persons with bachelor's, master's, professional, and doctoral degrees.