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Technical information: (202) 691-6378

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

Media contact: 691-5902

USDL 06-514

For release: 10:00 A.M. EST

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 Technical 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 percent. (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 enrolled 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
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high school dropouts, men were more likely than women to be participating 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.

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 continued 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.
Technical Note

The estimates in this release were obtained from a

supplement to the October 2005 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 2005.

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 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

(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, 2005 high school graduates 1 ........... 2,675 1,529 57.2 1,320 49.3 209 13.7 1,146

 Men ........................................................... 1,262 751 59.5 652 51.7 99 13.1 511

 Women ..................................................... 1,414 778 55.0 668 47.2 110 14.2 635

 White ........................................................ 2,147 1,256 58.5 1,106 51.5 149 11.9 891

 Black or African American ........................ 354 196 55.3 146 41.1 50 25.5 159

 Asian ......................................................... 80 22 27.1 22 27.1 – 2 ( ) 58

 Hispanic or Latino ethnicity ....................... 390 237 60.6 193 49.4 44 18.5 154

 Enrolled in college .................................... 1,834 869 47.4 795 43.4 73 8.4 965

 Enrolled in 2-year college ....................... 642 393 61.3 350 54.5 43 11.0 249

 Enrolled in 4-year college ....................... 1,192 475 39.9 445 37.4 30 6.3 717

 Full-time students ................................... 1,672 741 44.3 676 40.4 65 8.7 931

 Part-time students .................................. 162 128 79.0 120 73.8 8 6.6 34

 Men ......................................................... 839 406 48.4 364 43.4 42 10.3 433

 Women ................................................... 995 463 46.5 431 43.3 31 6.8 533

 White ...................................................... 1,490 728 48.8 674 45.2 54 7.4 762

 Black or African American ...................... 201 82 40.7 68 33.9 14 16.8 119

 Asian ....................................................... 70 19 2 ( ) 19 2 ( ) – 2 ( ) 50

 Hispanic or Latino ethnicity ..................... 211 96 45.7 91 43.1 6 5.8 114

 Not enrolled in college .............................. 841 660 78.5 525 62.4 136 20.6 181

 Men ......................................................... 423 345 81.6 288 68.2 57 16.4 78

 Women ................................................... 418 315 75.4 236 56.5 79 25.1 103

 White ...................................................... 656 528 80.4 432 65.9 96 18.1 128

 Black or African American ...................... 153 114 74.4 78 50.7 36 31.9 39

 Asian ....................................................... 10 2 2 ( ) 2 2 ( ) – 2 ( ) 8

 Hispanic or Latino ethnicity ..................... 179 140 78.2 102 56.9 38 27.3 39

Total, 2004-05 high school dropouts 3 ....... 407 233 57.2 156 38.3 77 32.9 174

 Men ........................................................... 227 136 59.7 87 38.3 49 35.9 91

 Women ..................................................... 180 97 54.0 69 38.4 28 28.8 83

 White ........................................................ 273 166 61.1 114 41.9 52 31.4 106

 Black or African American ........................ 114 52 45.4 31 27.6 20 2 ( ) 62

 Asian ......................................................... 7 6 2 ( ) 6 2 ( ) 1 2 ( ) –

 Hispanic or Latino ethnicity ....................... 86 55 64.3 39 45.1 17 2 ( ) 31

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

2004 and October 2005.

2 Data not shown where base is less than 75,000. 3 Data refer to persons who dropped out of school between October 2004

and October 2005.

 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 2005.
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

(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 ............................... 36,761 22,338 60.8 20,032 54.5 2,306 10.3 14,423

Enrolled in school ....................................... 20,905 9,442 45.2 8,528 40.8 914 9.7 11,462

 Enrolled in high school 1 ........................... 9,905 3,075 31.0 2,552 25.8 523 17.0 6,830

 Men ......................................................... 5,234 1,528 29.2 1,292 24.7 236 15.4 3,706

 Women ................................................... 4,671 1,547 33.1 1,260 27.0 287 18.6 3,123

 White ...................................................... 7,597 2,587 34.1 2,200 29.0 387 14.9 5,010

 Black or African American ...................... 1,565 292 18.7 190 12.1 102 35.0 1,273

 Asian ....................................................... 343 74 21.5 70 20.4 4 2 ( ) 269

 Hispanic or Latino ethnicity ..................... 1,661 391 23.5 294 17.7 97 24.8 1,270

 Enrolled in college .................................... 11,000 6,367 57.9 5,976 54.3 391 6.1 4,633

 Enrolled in 2-year college ....................... 2,749 1,845 67.1 1,693 61.6 152 8.2 904

 Enrolled in 4-year college ....................... 8,250 4,522 54.8 4,282 51.9 240 5.3 3,728

 Full-time students ................................... 9,396 4,952 52.7 4,612 49.1 340 6.9 4,443

 Part-time students .................................. 1,604 1,414 88.2 1,363 85.0 51 3.6 189

 Men ......................................................... 5,034 2,816 55.9 2,620 52.0 196 7.0 2,218

 Women ................................................... 5,965 3,551 59.5 3,356 56.3 195 5.5 2,414

 White ...................................................... 8,603 5,169 60.1 4,877 56.7 292 5.7 3,433

 Black or African American ...................... 1,328 656 49.4 587 44.2 69 10.5 672

 Asian ....................................................... 715 326 45.6 311 43.5 15 4.6 389

 Hispanic or Latino ethnicity ..................... 1,243 681 54.8 641 51.6 40 5.9 561

Not enrolled in school ................................. 15,856 12,896 81.3 11,504 72.6 1,392 10.8 2,960

 16 to 19 years ........................................... 2,884 2,070 71.8 1,681 58.3 389 18.8 813

 20 to 24 years ........................................... 12,973 10,826 83.5 9,823 75.7 1,003 9.3 2,147

 Men ........................................................... 8,279 7,240 87.5 6,442 77.8 798 11.0 1,039

 Less than a high school diploma ............ 2,009 1,602 79.8 1,357 67.5 246 15.3 406

 High school graduates, no college 3 ....... 3,849 3,381 87.8 3,018 78.4 363 10.7 468

 Some college or associate degree ......... 1,713 1,576 92.0 1,424 83.1 153 9.7 137

 Bachelor’s degree and higher ................. 708 681 96.1 644 90.9 37 5.4 27

 Women ..................................................... 7,578 5,656 74.6 5,062 66.8 594 10.5 1,921

 Less than a high school diploma ............ 1,449 776 53.5 611 42.2 165 21.2 673

 High school graduates, no college 3 ....... 3,219 2,355 73.2 2,083 64.7 271 11.5 864

 Some college or associate degree ......... 1,861 1,553 83.4 1,430 76.8 123 7.9 308

 Bachelor’s degree and higher ................. 1,049 973 92.8 938 89.4 35 3.6 76

 White ........................................................ 12,412 10,285 82.9 9,323 75.1 962 9.4 2,127

 Black or African American ........................ 2,448 1,843 75.3 1,506 61.5 338 18.3 605

 Asian ......................................................... 419 339 81.0 314 74.9 25 7.5 80

 Hispanic or Latino ethnicity ....................... 3,460 2,663 77.0 2,367 68.4 295 11.1 798

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 high school diploma or equivalent.

 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 2005.