For release 10:00 a.m. (EDT) Tuesday, April 27, 2010 USDL-10-0533 

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

2009 HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATES

In October 2009, 70.1 percent of 2009 high school graduates were enrolled in colleges or universities, 

the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. This was a historical high for the series, which began 

in 1959. Recent high school graduates not enrolled in college in October 2009 were more likely than 

enrolled graduates to be in the labor force (70.0 compared with 42.1 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 

on full-time and part-time school enrollment status, level of education, and enrollment status a year 

earlier. 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 in January through October 2009, 

2.1 million (70.1 percent) were enrolled in college in October 2009. The college enrollment rate of 

recent high school graduates has been trending up; in October 2008, 68.6 percent of recent high school 

graduates were enrolled in college. For 2009 graduates, the college enrollment rate was 73.8 percent for 

young women and 66.0 percent for young men. The college enrollment rate of 2009 Asian graduates 

(92.2 percent) was higher than for recent white (69.2 percent), black (68.7 percent), and Hispanic (59.3 

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 42.1 percent. The participation rates for male and 

female graduates enrolled in college were about the same (40.8 percent and 43.2 percent, respectively). 

Among recent high school graduates enrolled in college in October 2009, 91.6 percent were full-time 

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

(38.7 percent) than their peers enrolled part time (79.3 percent). 

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

these students, 30.9 percent participated in the labor force, compared with 59.2 percent of recent graduates enrolled in 2-year colleges. 
- 2 - 

Recent high school graduates not enrolled in college in the fall of 2009 were more likely than enrolled 

graduates to be in the labor force (70.0 compared with 42.1 percent). The unemployment rate for recent 

high school graduates not enrolled in school was 35.0 percent, compared with 23.7 percent for graduates 

enrolled in college. 

Between October 2008 and October 2009, 383,000 young people dropped out of high school. The labor 

force participation rate for recent dropouts (48.5 percent) was lower than for recent high school graduates not enrolled in college (70.0 percent). The jobless rate for recent high school dropouts was 55.1 

percent, compared with 35.0 percent for high school graduates not enrolled in college. 

All Youth Enrolled in High School or College 

In October 2009, 58.1 percent of the nation's 16- to 24-year-olds, or 21.9 million young people, either 

were enrolled in high school (9.6 million) or in college (12.2 million). The labor force participation rate 

of youth enrolled in school fell from 42.0 to 38.5 percent from October 2008 to October 2009, and the 

unemployment rate rose from 11.9 to 15.6 percent. (See table 2.) 

In October 2009, college students continued to be more likely to participate in the labor force than high 

school students (51.4 compared with 22.1 percent). About 87 percent of college students were enrolled 

full time. Those attending full time had much lower labor force participation rates than part-time students. Female college students were more likely to be in the labor force (54.8 percent) than their male 

counterparts (47.4 percent). 

The unemployment rate for high school students, at 25.8 percent in October 2009, was about twice the 

rate for college students (12.2 percent). Unemployment rates for black (46.9 percent) and Hispanic (40.4 

percent) high school students continued to be higher than for white students (22.6 percent). 

All Youth Not Enrolled in School 

In October 2009, 15.8 million persons age 16 to 24 were not enrolled in school. The labor force participation rate of youth not enrolled in school fell from 79.9 percent in October 2008 to 78.4 percent in 

October 2009. Among youth not enrolled in school in October 2009, men continued to be more likely 

than women to participate in the labor force—83.8 compared with 72.3 percent. Labor force participation rates for not-enrolled men and women were highest for college graduates and lowest for those with 

less than a high school diploma. (See table 2.) 

The unemployment rate for not-enrolled youth age 16 to 24 rose from 14.2 percent in October 2008 to 

20.3 percent in October 2009. Among the educational attainment categories, unemployment rates for 

youth not in school were highest for those without a high school diploma—31.8 percent for young men 

and 31.0 percent for young women in October 2009. In contrast, the jobless rates for young male and 

female college graduates were 13.6 and 6.5 percent, respectively. Black youth not enrolled in school 

had an unemployment rate of 33.0 percent in October 2009, higher than the rates for their white (17.9 

percent), Asian (20.0 percent), and Hispanic (23.1 percent) counterparts. 
Technical Note 

The estimates in this release were obtained from a 

supplement to the October 2009 Current Population Survey 

(CPS), a monthly survey of about 60,000 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 Web site 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 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. 

A full discussion of the reliability of data from the CPS 

and information on 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. 
Table 1. Labor force status of 2009 high school graduates and 2008-09 high school dropouts 16 to 24 years

old by school enrollment, educational attainment, sex, race, and Hispanic or Latino ethnicity, October 2009

(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, 2009 high school graduates 1 ........... 2,937 1,482 50.5 1,062 36.1 421 28.4 1,455

Men ........................................................... 1,407 724 51.5 513 36.5 211 29.1 683

Women ..................................................... 1,531 758 49.5 549 35.8 210 27.7 772

White ........................................................ 2,281 1,204 52.8 894 39.2 310 25.8 1,077

Black or African American ........................ 425 174 41.0 102 24.0 72 41.3 251

Asian ......................................................... 115 42 36.7 28 24.0 15 2 ( ) 73

Hispanic or Latino ethnicity ....................... 459 215 46.9 146 31.9 69 31.9 243

Enrolled in college .................................... 2,058 867 42.1 662 32.1 205 23.7 1,192

Enrolled in 2-year college ....................... 813 482 59.2 357 43.9 125 25.9 332

Enrolled in 4-year college ....................... 1,245 385 30.9 305 24.5 80 20.8 860

Full-time students ................................... 1,885 729 38.7 558 29.6 172 23.5 1,156

Part-time students .................................. 173 137 79.3 104 60.1 33 24.2 36

Men ......................................................... 928 379 40.8 294 31.7 84 22.2 550

Women ................................................... 1,130 488 43.2 367 32.5 121 24.8 642

White ...................................................... 1,579 689 43.6 540 34.2 148 21.5 890

Black or African American ...................... 292 99 33.8 68 23.3 31 31.0 193

Asian ....................................................... 106 37 35.1 25 24.0 12 2 ( ) 69

Hispanic or Latino ethnicity ..................... 272 106 39.0 81 29.9 25 23.2 166

Not enrolled in college .............................. 879 616 70.0 400 45.5 216 35.0 263

Men ......................................................... 478 345 72.2 219 45.7 127 36.7 133

Women ................................................... 401 270 67.4 181 45.2 89 32.9 130

White ...................................................... 702 516 73.4 354 50.4 162 31.4 187

Black or African American ...................... 133 75 56.6 34 25.6 41 54.8 58

Asian ....................................................... 9 5 2 ( ) 2 2 ( ) 3 2 ( ) 4

Hispanic or Latino ethnicity ..................... 186 109 58.5 65 34.9 44 40.4 77

Total, 2008-09 high school dropouts 3 ........ 383 186 48.5 83 21.8 103 55.1 198

Men ........................................................... 205 125 60.9 56 27.5 69 54.9 80

Women ..................................................... 179 61 34.2 27 15.2 34 2 ( ) 117

White ........................................................ 276 147 53.4 76 27.4 72 48.7 129

Black or African American ........................ 80 33 41.6 4 4.8 30 2 ( ) 47

Asian ......................................................... 5 1 2 ( ) 1 2 () – – 4

Hispanic or Latino ethnicity ....................... 115 52 45.1 20 17.2 32 2 ( ) 63

1 Data refer to persons who graduated from high school in

January through October 2009. 2 Data not shown where base is less than 75,000. 3 Data refer to persons who dropped out of school between

October 2008 and October 2009.

 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. Because of rounding, sums

of individual items may not equal totals.Updated population controls

are introduced annually with the release of January data. Dash

represents or rounds to zero. 
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 2009

(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 ................................... 37,616 20,764 55.2 16,945 45.0 3,820 18.4 16,851

Enrolled in school ..................................... 21,854 8,411 38.5 7,098 32.5 1,314 15.6 13,443

Enrolled in high school 1 ......................... 9,612 2,125 22.1 1,576 16.4 548 25.8 7,488

Men ....................................................... 4,965 1,055 21.3 760 15.3 295 28.0 3,910

Women ................................................. 4,647 1,069 23.0 817 17.6 253 23.6 3,578

White .................................................... 7,225 1,757 24.3 1,359 18.8 398 22.6 5,468

Black or African American .................... 1,608 266 16.5 141 8.8 125 46.9 1,342

Asian ..................................................... 335 30 8.9 21 6.3 9 2 ( ) 305

Hispanic or Latino ethnicity ................... 1,805 314 17.4 187 10.4 127 40.4 1,491

Enrolled in college .................................. 12,242 6,287 51.4 5,521 45.1 766 12.2 5,955

Enrolled in 2-year college ..................... 3,512 2,129 60.6 1,772 50.4 358 16.8 1,383

Enrolled in 4-year college ..................... 8,729 4,158 47.6 3,750 43.0 408 9.8 4,571

Full-time students ................................. 10,680 4,967 46.5 4,331 40.6 635 12.8 5,713

Part-time students ................................ 1,562 1,320 84.5 1,190 76.2 130 9.9 242

Men ....................................................... 5,710 2,707 47.4 2,286 40.0 421 15.5 3,003

Women ................................................. 6,531 3,579 54.8 3,235 49.5 345 9.6 2,952

White .................................................... 9,461 5,145 54.4 4,569 48.3 576 11.2 4,316

Black or African American .................... 1,630 680 41.7 562 34.5 119 17.4 949

Asian ..................................................... 777 254 32.8 229 29.5 25 9.9 522

Hispanic or Latino ethnicity ................... 1,501 792 52.8 690 46.0 102 12.9 709

Not enrolled in school ............................... 15,762 12,353 78.4 9,847 62.5 2,506 20.3 3,409

16 to 19 years ......................................... 3,134 2,067 65.9 1,357 43.3 710 34.4 1,068

20 to 24 years ......................................... 12,627 10,286 81.5 8,491 67.2 1,796 17.5 2,341

Men ......................................................... 8,274 6,937 83.8 5,341 64.6 1,596 23.0 1,337

Less than a high school diploma .......... 1,731 1,267 73.2 864 49.9 403 31.8 464

High school graduates, no college 3 ..... 3,870 3,193 82.5 2,400 62.0 793 24.8 677

Some college or associate degree ....... 1,784 1,610 90.3 1,328 74.5 282 17.5 174

Bachelor’s degree and higher 4 ............ 890 867 97.4 749 84.1 118 13.6 23

Women ................................................... 7,488 5,416 72.3 4,506 60.2 910 16.8 2,072

Less than a high school diploma .......... 1,299 644 49.6 444 34.2 200 31.0 655

High school graduates, no college3 ...... 3,125 2,147 68.7 1,671 53.5 476 22.2 978

Some college or associate degree ....... 1,894 1,539 81.2 1,374 72.6 164 10.7 356

Bachelor’s degree and higher 4 ............ 1,170 1,087 92.9 1,017 86.9 70 6.5 83

White ...................................................... 12,330 9,913 80.4 8,140 66.0 1,773 17.9 2,417

Black or African American ...................... 2,438 1,679 68.9 1,126 46.2 553 33.0 759

Asian ....................................................... 348 280 80.5 224 64.4 56 20.0 68

Hispanic or Latino ethnicity ..................... 3,503 2,631 75.1 2,023 57.7 608 23.1 872

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 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. Persons whose ethnicity is identified as

Hispanic or Latino may be of any race. Because of rounding, sums

of individual items may not equal totals. Updated population controls

are introduced annually with the release of January data.