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Technical information: (202) 691-6378 USDL 08-0559

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

For release: 10:00 A.M. (EDT)

Media contact: (202) 691-5902 Friday, April 25, 2008

COLLEGE ENROLLMENT AND WORK ACTIVITY OF

2007 HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATES

In October 2007, 67.2 percent of high school graduates from the class of 2007 were enrolled in colleges

or universities, according to data released today by the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of

Labor.

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 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 nearly 3.0 million youth who graduated from high school between October 2006 and October

2007, about 2.0 million (67.2 percent) were attending college in October 2007. The college enrollment

rates were 68.3 percent for young women and 66.1 percent for young men. (See table 1.)

Among recent high school graduates enrolled in college in October 2007, 93.2 percent were enrolled as

full-time students. The labor force participation rate (the proportion of the population with a job or looking

for work) was 37.3 percent for full-time students and 72.7 percent for part-time students.

About 64.1 percent of recent high school graduates enrolled in college were attending 4-year institutions.

Of these students, 31.4 percent participated in the labor force; in contrast, 54.7 percent of students enrolled

in 2-year institutions were in the labor force.

Recent high school graduates not enrolled in college in the fall of 2007 were more likely to be in the labor

force than enrolled graduates (76.6 percent versus 39.7 percent). The unemployment rate for those not enrolled in college was 19.9 percent, compared with 9.8 percent for high school graduates enrolled in college

(in either 2-year or 4-year institutions).

Between October 2006 and October 2007, 426,000 people between the ages of 16 and 24 dropped out

of high school. Hispanics represented a disproportionately large share of dropouts (27.9 percent).

The labor force participation rate for dropouts was 56.2 percent, compared with 76.6 percent for those

who graduated high school but were not enrolled in college. Among recent high school dropouts in October

N

Bureau of Labor Statistics Washington, D.C. 20212 

ews United States 

Department 

of Labor 
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2007, 60.4 percent of young men and 51.1 percent of young women were in the labor force. The unemployment rate for recent high school dropouts was 26.9 percent.

Youth Enrolled in School

In October 2007, 21.1 million young people between the ages of 16 and 24, or 56.2 percent of the 16-

to 24-year-old population, were either enrolled in high school (9.7 million) or in college (11.3 million). (See

table 2.)

College students were more likely to work or look for work than high school students (54.0 percent and

29.4 percent, respectively). Among college students, the labor force participation rate for part-time students

(85.3 percent) was higher than for full-time students (48.6 percent). Female college students were more

likely to be in the labor force than male college students (56.6 percent versus 51.0 percent).

The unemployment rate for high school students, at 15.2 percent in October 2007, was more than twice

that for college students (5.9 percent). Nearly one-quarter of black high school students were unemployed

(24.6 percent), as were 17.9 percent of Hispanics and 13.4 percent of whites. Among college students, unemployment rates were 9.9 percent for blacks, 7.0 percent for Asians, 5.0 percent for whites, and 4.3 percent

for Hispanics.

Out-of-School Youth

In October 2007, there were 16.4 million youth not enrolled in school. These out-of-school youth participated in the labor force at a rate of 80.8 percent. Young men not enrolled in school were more likely to

be working or looking for work than their female counterparts (87.9 percent versus 73.0 percent). Labor

force participation rates among young out-of-school 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 youth not enrolled in school was 11.5 percent in October 2007. Among

the educational attainment categories, unemployment rates were highest for men and women who were not

in school and did not have a high school diploma (15.7 percent and 19.0 percent, respectively). In contrast,

the unemployment rate among young college graduates was 7.4 percent for men and 5.4 percent for women.

The unemployment rate for black youth not in school, at 21.5 percent, was more than twice that for white

youth and Asian youth who were not enrolled (9.6 and 9.9 percent, respectively). The unemployment rate

for Hispanic youth not in school was 11.5 percent.
Technical Note 

The estimates in this release were obtained from a 

supplement to the October 2007 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. 

The supplement weights used in estimation were revised 

with the release of October 2007 data. An additional weighting step was added in order to bring the CPS estimates for persons receiving a high school diploma or GED more in line 

with administrative records. The 2007 October supplement 

data are not strictly comparable with published estimates from 

earlier years. 

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 Household Data section of the "Explanatory Notes and Estimates of 

Error” at http://www.bls.gov/cps/eetech_ methods.pdf. 

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 professsional 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 2007 high school graduates and 2006-07 high school dropouts 16 to 24 years old 

by school enrollment, sex, race, and Hispanic or Latino ethnicity, October 2007

(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, 2007 high school graduates 1 ........... 2,955 1,531 51.8 1,307 44.2 224 14.7 1,424

 Men ......................................................... 1,511 800 52.9 672 44.5 128 16.0 711

 Women ................................................... 1,444 731 50.6 635 44.0 96 13.2 713

 White ...................................................... 2,380 1,224 51.4 1,091 45.9 132 10.8 1,156

 Black or African American ...................... 420 231 55.0 151 35.9 80 34.8 189

 Asian ....................................................... 66 24 2 ( ) 22 2 () 3 2 ( ) 42

 Hispanic or Latino ethnicity ..................... 355 157 44.2 134 37.6 23 14.9 198

 Enrolled in college .................................... 1,986 789 39.7 712 35.9 77 9.8 1,197

 Enrolled in 2-year college ....................... 711 389 54.7 349 49.0 41 10.4 322

 Enrolled in 4-year college ....................... 1,274 400 31.4 363 28.5 36 9.1 875

 Full-time students ................................... 1,851 691 37.3 621 33.5 70 10.2 1,160

 Part-time students .................................. 135 98 72.7 91 67.7 7 6.8 37

 Men ......................................................... 999 387 38.8 359 35.9 28 7.3 612

 Women ................................................... 986 402 40.7 353 35.8 49 12.1 585

 White ...................................................... 1,636 658 40.2 603 36.9 55 8.4 978

 Black or African American ...................... 232 87 37.4 74 32.0 13 14.5 145

 Asian ....................................................... 60 18 2 ( ) 16 2 () 3 2 ( ) 41

 Hispanic or Latino ethnicity ..................... 227 82 35.9 78 34.5 3 3.9 146

 Not enrolled in college .............................. 970 742 76.6 595 61.3 147 19.9 227

 Men ......................................................... 512 413 80.6 313 61.1 100 24.1 99

 Women ................................................... 458 330 72.0 282 61.6 48 14.5 128

 White ...................................................... 744 565 76.0 488 65.7 77 13.6 179

 Black or African American ...................... 188 144 76.8 76 40.7 68 47.0 44

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

 Hispanic or Latino ethnicity ..................... 128 75 58.9 55 43.2 20 26.7 53

Total, 2006-07 high school dropouts 3 ....... 426 239 56.2 175 41.1 64 26.9 187

 Men ......................................................... 233 141 60.4 96 41.4 44 31.5 92

 Women ................................................... 193 99 51.1 79 40.6 20 20.4 95

 White ...................................................... 288 156 54.2 109 37.7 48 30.5 132

 Black or African American ...................... 75 45 60.2 29 38.0 17 2 ( ) 30

 Asian ....................................................... 30 17 2 ( ) 17 2 () – 2 ( ) 13

 Hispanic or Latino ethnicity ..................... 119 72 60.5 45 37.6 27 2 ( ) 47

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

2006 and October 2007.

2 Data not shown where base is less than 75,000. 3 Data refer to persons who dropped out of school between October 2006

and October 2007.

 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 2007

(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 ............................... 37,480 22,243 59.3 19,921 53.2 2,322 10.4 15,237

Enrolled in school ....................................... 21,061 8,979 42.6 8,181 38.8 798 8.9 12,083

 Enrolled in high school 1 ........................... 9,724 2,855 29.4 2,421 24.9 434 15.2 6,869

 Men ......................................................... 5,118 1,431 28.0 1,203 23.5 227 15.9 3,687

 Women ................................................... 4,607 1,425 30.9 1,218 26.4 206 14.5 3,182

 White ...................................................... 7,370 2,371 32.2 2,053 27.9 318 13.4 4,999

 Black or African American ...................... 1,590 294 18.5 222 14.0 72 24.6 1,296

 Asian ....................................................... 352 72 20.3 58 16.3 14 2 ( ) 281

 Hispanic or Latino ethnicity ..................... 1,659 368 22.2 302 18.2 66 17.9 1,291

 Enrolled in college .................................... 11,337 6,124 54.0 5,760 50.8 364 5.9 5,213

 Enrolled in 2-year college ....................... 3,217 2,066 64.2 1,946 60.5 121 5.8 1,151

 Enrolled in 4-year college ....................... 8,120 4,057 50.0 3,814 47.0 243 6.0 4,063

 Full-time students ................................... 9,659 4,693 48.6 4,398 45.5 295 6.3 4,966

 Part-time students .................................. 1,678 1,431 85.3 1,362 81.2 69 4.8 247

 Men ......................................................... 5,226 2,664 51.0 2,508 48.0 156 5.9 2,563

 Women ................................................... 6,110 3,460 56.6 3,252 53.2 208 6.0 2,651

 White ...................................................... 8,912 5,008 56.2 4,759 53.4 249 5.0 3,904

 Black or African American ...................... 1,423 674 47.4 607 42.7 67 9.9 749

 Asian ....................................................... 668 240 35.9 223 33.4 17 7.0 428

 Hispanic or Latino ethnicity ..................... 1,414 836 59.1 800 56.6 36 4.3 578

Not enrolled in school ................................. 16,419 13,264 80.8 11,740 71.5 1,524 11.5 3,155

 16 to 19 years ........................................... 3,269 2,356 72.1 1,905 58.3 451 19.1 914

 20 to 24 years ........................................... 13,149 10,908 83.0 9,835 74.8 1,073 9.8 2,241

 Men ........................................................... 8,595 7,554 87.9 6,628 77.1 926 12.3 1,042

 Less than a high school diploma ............ 1,859 1,496 80.5 1,261 67.8 236 15.7 362

 High school graduates, no college 3 ....... 4,073 3,544 87.0 3,069 75.3 475 13.4 529

 Some college or associate degree ......... 1,768 1,662 94.0 1,509 85.4 152 9.2 106

 Bachelor’s degree and higher 4 .............. 895 852 95.1 789 88.1 63 7.4 44

 Women ..................................................... 7,823 5,710 73.0 5,112 65.3 598 10.5 2,113

 Less than a high school diploma ............ 1,419 689 48.6 558 39.3 131 19.0 730

 High school graduates, no college 3 ....... 3,340 2,371 71.0 2,077 62.2 294 12.4 969

 Some college or associate degree ......... 1,884 1,527 81.1 1,416 75.1 112 7.3 357

 Bachelor’s degree and higher 4 .............. 1,180 1,122 95.1 1,061 90.0 61 5.4 58

 White ........................................................ 12,740 10,441 82.0 9,441 74.1 1,000 9.6 2,299

 Black or African American ........................ 2,542 1,938 76.2 1,521 59.8 417 21.5 604

 Asian ......................................................... 462 379 82.1 342 74.0 37 9.9 83

 Hispanic or Latino ethnicity ....................... 3,559 2,655 74.6 2,349 66.0 305 11.5 904

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.