For release 10:00 a.m. (EDT) Tuesday, April 22, 2014 USDL-14-0657 

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

2013 HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATES

In October 2013, 65.9 percent of 2013 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 2013 were over twice as likely as enrolled graduates to be working or looking for work—

74.2 percent compared with 34.1 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 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 nearly 3.0 million youth age 16 to 24 who graduated from high school between January and 

October 2013, about 2.0 million (65.9 percent) were enrolled in college in October. The college 

enrollment rate of recent high school graduates in October 2013 was little different from the rate in 

October 2012 (66.2 percent). For 2013 graduates, the college enrollment rate was 68.4 percent for young 

women and 63.5 percent for young men. The college enrollment rate of Asians (79.1 percent) was 

higher than the rates for recent white (67.1 percent), black (59.3 percent), and Hispanic (59.9 percent) 

graduates. (See table 1.) 

In October 2013, 34.1 percent of recent high school graduates who were enrolled in college participated 

in the labor force—that is, they were working or looking for work. The participation rates for male and 

female graduates enrolled in college were 33.7 percent and 34.5 percent, respectively. 

Among recent high school graduates enrolled in college in October 2013, 92.8 percent were full-time 

students. The labor force participation rate was 31.0 percent for full-time students, much lower than the 

rate of 73.8 percent for part-time students. 

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

students, 27.8 percent participated in the labor force, compared with 45.2 percent of recent graduates 

enrolled in 2-year colleges. 
- 2 - 

Recent high school graduates not enrolled in college in the fall of 2013 were more likely than enrolled 

graduates to be in the labor force (74.2 percent compared with 34.1 percent). The unemployment rate for 

high school graduates not enrolled in college was 30.9 percent, compared with 20.2 percent for 

graduates enrolled in college. 

Between October 2012 and October 2013, 529,000 young people dropped out of high school. The labor 

force participation rate for recent dropouts (42.9 percent) was much lower than the rate for recent high 

school graduates not enrolled in college (74.2 percent). The jobless rate for recent high school dropouts 

was 27.9 percent, compared with 30.9 percent for recent high school graduates not enrolled in college. 

All Youth Enrolled in High School or College 

In October 2013, 56.6 percent of the nation’s 16- to 24-year-olds, or 22.0 million young people, were 

enrolled in high school (9.5 million) or in college (12.5 million). Both the labor force participation rate 

(37.2 percent) and unemployment rate (11.7 percent) of youth enrolled in school in October 2013 were 

down from October 2012. (See table 2.) 

In October 2013, college students continued to be more likely to participate in the labor force than high 

school students (49.3 percent compared with 21.1 percent). Among those attending college, the labor 

force participation rate was lower for full-time students (43.4 percent) than for part-time students (82.1 

percent). For both 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 

(52.2 percent) than their male counterparts (45.9 percent). Labor force participation rates for male and 

female high school students were about the same (20.4 percent and 21.9 percent, respectively). 

The unemployment rate for high school students, at 21.3 percent in October 2013, was more than twice 

the rate for college students (8.6 percent). For both high school and college students, jobless rates for 

blacks and Hispanics were higher than for whites. 

All Youth Not Enrolled in School 

In October 2013, 16.8 million persons age 16 to 24 were not enrolled in school. The labor force 

participation rate of youth not enrolled in school (77.7 percent) in October 2013 was down from the rate 

a year earlier. Among youth not enrolled in school in October 2013, young men continued to be more 

likely than young women to participate in the labor force—81.8 percent compared with 73.1 percent. 

Labor force participation rates for not-enrolled young men and women were highest for college 

graduates (96.4 percent and 91.5 percent, respectively) and lowest for young men and women with less 

than a high school diploma (64.6 percent and 50.2 percent, respectively). (See table 2.) 

The unemployment rate (16.1 percent) for youths age 16 to 24 not enrolled in school in October 2013 

was essentially unchanged from October 2012. Among not-enrolled youth who did not have a high 

school diploma, unemployment rates in October 2013 were 26.4 percent for young men and 32.9 percent 

for young women. In contrast, the jobless rates for young men and women with at least a bachelor’s 

degree were 7.9 percent and 6.5 percent, respectively. Black youth not enrolled in school had an 

unemployment rate of 25.6 percent in October 2013, higher than the rates for their white (13.6 percent), 

Asian (11.8 percent), and Hispanic (16.8 percent) counterparts. 
Technical Note

The estimates in this release were obtained from a 

supplement to the October 2013 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.

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.
[Numbers in thousands]

Total Percent of 

population Number Rate

RECENT HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATES

Total, 2013 high school graduates1 ......................... 2,977 1,422 47.8 1,054 35.4 367 25.8 1,556 

 Men ...................................................................... 1,524 763 50.0 542 35.5 221 29.0 762 

 Women ................................................................. 1,453 659 45.4 513 35.3 146 22.2 794 

 White .................................................................... 2,224 1,107 49.8 850 38.2 257 23.2 1,117 

 Black or African American .................................... 415 187 45.0 127 30.6 60 32.0 228 

 Asian .................................................................... 177 47 26.5 27 15.3 20 – 130 

 Hispanic or Latino ethnicity .................................. 571 260 45.4 178 31.1 82 31.5 312 

Enrolled in college

Total, enrolled in college ......................................... 1,962 669 34.1 534 27.2 135 20.2 1,293 

 Enrolled in 2-year college ..................................... 709 320 45.2 240 33.8 81 25.2 389 

 Enrolled in 4-year college ..................................... 1,253 348 27.8 294 23.5 54 15.6 904 

 Full-time students ................................................. 1,820 564 31.0 458 25.1 107 18.9 1,256 

 Part-time students ................................................ 141 104 73.8 76 53.7 28 27.2 37 

 Men ...................................................................... 968 326 33.7 236 24.4 90 27.5 642 

 Women ................................................................. 994 343 34.5 297 29.9 45 13.2 651 

 White .................................................................... 1,493 546 36.6 445 29.8 101 18.5 947 

 Black or African American .................................... 246 73 29.8 53 21.4 21 – 173 

 Asian .................................................................... 140 29 20.8 16 11.7 13 – 111 

 Hispanic or Latino ethnicity .................................. 342 114 33.3 76 22.3 38 33.2 228 

Not enrolled in college

Total, not enrolled in college ................................... 1,016 753 74.2 521 51.3 232 30.9 262 

 Men ...................................................................... 556 437 78.5 305 54.9 131 30.1 119 

 Women ................................................................. 459 316 68.8 215 46.9 101 31.9 143 

 White .................................................................... 731 561 76.7 405 55.3 156 27.9 171 

 Black or African American .................................... 169 114 67.1 74 44.0 39 34.5 56 

 Asian .................................................................... 37 18 – 11 – 7 – 19 

 Hispanic or Latino ethnicity .................................. 229 146 63.5 102 44.3 44 30.2 84 

RECENT HIGH SCHOOL DROPOUTS

Total, 2012-13 high school dropouts2 ...................... 529 227 42.9 164 31.0 63 27.9 302 

 Men ...................................................................... 285 116 40.8 95 33.2 22 18.6 168 

 Women ................................................................. 244 111 45.4 69 28.3 42 37.6 133 

 White .................................................................... 406 180 44.4 131 32.3 49 27.3 226 

 Black or African American .................................... 84 20 23.5 14 16.6 6 – 64 

 Asian .................................................................... 15 11 – 11 – – – 4 

 Hispanic or Latino ethnicity .................................. 135 63 46.6 42 31.0 21 – 72 

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 2013.

2 Data refer to persons who dropped out of school between October 2012 and October 2013.

Table 1. Labor force status of 2013 high school graduates and 2012-13 high school dropouts 16 to 24 years old by school enrollment, 

educational attainment, sex, race, and Hispanic or Latino ethnicity, October 2013

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 ................................................ 38,804 21,252 54.8 18,184 46.9 3,068 14.4 17,552 

Enrolled in school

Total, enrolled in school ........................................... 21,958 8,160 37.2 7,206 32.8 954 11.7 13,798 

 Enrolled in high school1 ........................................ 9,458 1,995 21.1 1,569 16.6 425 21.3 7,463 

 Men .................................................................... 4,908 1,000 20.4 781 15.9 218 21.8 3,908 

 Women .............................................................. 4,550 995 21.9 788 17.3 207 20.8 3,555 

 White .................................................................. 6,933 1,644 23.7 1,356 19.6 288 17.5 5,289 

 Black or African American ................................. 1,583 264 16.7 145 9.1 119 45.2 1,319 

 Asian .................................................................. 430 16 3.6 16 3.6 – – 415 

 Hispanic or Latino ethnicity ................................ 2,104 350 16.6 258 12.2 92 26.4 1,754 

 Enrolled in college ................................................ 12,500 6,166 49.3 5,637 45.1 528 8.6 6,334 

 Enrolled in 2-year college .................................. 3,654 2,111 57.8 1,824 49.9 287 13.6 1,544 

 Enrolled in 4-year college .................................. 8,846 4,055 45.8 3,813 43.1 242 6.0 4,791 

 Full-time students .............................................. 10,574 4,585 43.4 4,179 39.5 406 8.9 5,989 

 Part-time students .............................................. 1,926 1,581 82.1 1,458 75.7 122 7.7 345 

 Men .................................................................... 5,771 2,652 45.9 2,363 40.9 289 10.9 3,119 

 Women .............................................................. 6,729 3,514 52.2 3,274 48.7 240 6.8 3,215 

 White .................................................................. 9,277 4,813 51.9 4,446 47.9 368 7.6 4,464 

 Black or African American ................................. 1,631 755 46.3 654 40.1 101 13.3 876 

 Asian .................................................................. 1,030 350 33.9 300 29.1 50 14.2 681 

 Hispanic or Latino ethnicity ................................ 2,235 1,187 53.1 1,050 47.0 138 11.6 1,048 

Not enrolled in school

Total, not enrolled in school ..................................... 16,846 13,092 77.7 10,978 65.2 2,114 16.1 3,754 

 16 to 19 years ....................................................... 3,302 2,168 65.7 1,580 47.9 588 27.1 1,134 

 20 to 24 years ....................................................... 13,544 10,924 80.7 9,398 69.4 1,526 14.0 2,620 

 Men ....................................................................... 8,883 7,268 81.8 6,015 67.7 1,253 17.2 1,615 

 Less than a high school diploma ....................... 1,406 909 64.6 669 47.6 240 26.4 497 

 High school graduates, no college 2 .................. 4,370 3,573 81.8 2,858 65.4 715 20.0 797 

 Some college or associate degree .................... 2,122 1,836 86.5 1,613 76.0 223 12.2 285 

 Bachelor's degree and higher 3 .......................... 985 950 96.4 875 88.8 75 7.9 35 

 Women ................................................................. 7,963 5,824 73.1 4,963 62.3 861 14.8 2,140 

 Less than a high school diploma ....................... 1,216 610 50.2 409 33.7 201 32.9 606 

 High school graduates, no college 2 .................. 3,160 2,140 67.7 1,751 55.4 389 18.2 1,019 

 Some college or associate degree .................... 2,257 1,856 82.2 1,664 73.7 192 10.3 401 

 Bachelor's degree and higher 3 .......................... 1,331 1,217 91.5 1,138 85.5 79 6.5 114 

 White ..................................................................... 12,604 9,963 79.0 8,606 68.3 1,357 13.6 2,641 

 Black or African American .................................... 2,768 1,988 71.8 1,479 53.4 509 25.6 780 

 Asian ..................................................................... 568 439 77.3 387 68.2 52 11.8 129 

 Hispanic or Latino ethnicity ................................... 3,923 2,910 74.2 2,422 61.7 488 16.8 1,013 

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 2013

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.