Internet address:  http://stats.bls.gov/newsrels.htm
Technical information:  (202) 691-6378  USDL 00-136

                                        For release:  10:00 A.M. EDT
Media contact:                691-5902  Wednesday, May 17, 2000


    COLLEGE ENROLLMENT AND WORK ACTIVITY OF 1999 HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATES
                                     
                                     
   Sixty-three percent of the high school graduating class of 1999 was
enrolled in colleges or universities in the fall, the Bureau of Labor
Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor reported today.  The college
enrollment rate was somewhat lower than a year earlier and was well below
its October 1997 record high of 67.0 percent.  The over-the-year decline
was much sharper among young women than among young men.
   
   These data come from the Current Population Survey (CPS), a monthly
nationwide survey of about 50,000 households conducted for BLS by the
Census Bureau.  Questions relating to school enrollment and high school
graduation status are asked each October in a supplement to the basic CPS.
Additional information about the October supplement is included in the
Technical Note.
   
Recent High School Graduates and Dropouts
   
   Among the 2.9 million youth who graduated from high school in 1999,
about 1.8 million (62.9 percent) were enrolled in college the following
fall.  The college enrollment rate of young women, at 64.4 percent, con-
tinued to exceed that of young men (61.4 percent).  There were differences 
in enrollment status between the race and ethnic groups.  About 62.8 per-
cent of white high school graduates were enrolled in college the following  
fall, compared with 59.2 percent of blacks and just 42.2 percent of Hispanics.
(See table 1.)
   
   Two-thirds of the 1999 college freshmen were enrolled in 4-year
institutions, and nearly 40 percent participated in the labor force through
either work or an active job search.  In contrast, 63.5 percent of the
youth enrolled in 2-year colleges were in the labor force.  Only eight
percent of the recent high school graduates who were enrolled in college
attended school part time, but those who did were more than twice as likely
to participate in the labor force (89.2 percent) as were full-time students
(42.7 percent).
   
   The labor force participation rate for high school graduates who did
not enroll in college was 84.2 percent in October 1999.  In line with
improvements in the economy, their employment-population ratio--that is, the
proportion of their population with jobs--rose from 64.4 percent to 69.4
percent between October 1998 and 1999.
   
   High school dropouts have always experienced greater labor market
difficulties than persons with higher levels of education.  Of the 524,000
youth who had dropped out of high school over the year ended October 1999,
57.3 percent were in the labor force.  Their unemployment rate of 26.1
percent was 8.6 percentage points higher than the rate for the year's high
school graduates who did not go on to college.  Among high school dropouts,
men were more likely than women to participate in the labor force (66.8
versus 49.2 percent).

                                  - 2 -

Youth Enrolled in School
   
   Over half of the nation's 32.4 million 16- to 24-year-olds were
enrolled in school in October 1999.  Nearly 9 million were in high school
and 9.4 million were in college (including 1999 high school graduates who
were enrolled in college).  Among high school students, 41.2 percent were
in the labor force, and their unemployment rate was 13.8 percent.  For
college students, labor force participation rates varied greatly between
full- and part-time students.  In October 1999, of the 85 percent who
attended school on a full-time basis, 53 percent were labor force
participants.  In contrast, 87 percent of the part-time students were labor
force participants.  The unemployment rates for both full-time and part-
time college students (5.6 percent and 5.8 percent, respectively) were far
lower than the rate for high school students (13.8 percent).  Among both
high school and college students, unemployment rates were much higher for
blacks and Hispanics than for whites.  (See table 2.)
   
Out-of-School Youth
   
   Four out of five of the 16- to 24-year-olds not enrolled in school were
in the labor force in October 1999.  Labor force participation rates for
men were considerably higher than for women in this group (89.6 versus
74.2 percent).  This disparity in labor force activity between young men
and women is largest among those who had not completed high school and
nearly disappears among college graduates.  Black and Hispanic out-of-
school youth had lower labor force participation rates than whites.  Also,
the unemployment rate among black youth (20.4 percent) was double the rate
for Hispanic youth (10.1 percent) and 2 1/2 times the rate for white youth
(7.9 percent).  (See table 2.)
Technical Note

   The estimates in this release were obtained from a supplement to the
October 1999 Current Population Survey (CPS), a monthly survey of about
50,000 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.
   
   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.
Persons attending special schools, such as trade schools or business
colleges, are not included in the enrollment figures.  Persons taking
classes that do not require physical presence in school, such as
correspondence courses or other courses of independent study, and persons
attending training courses given directly on the job are counted only if
the credits obtained are 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 1999 high school graduates and 1998-99 high school dropouts 16 to 24 years old by
     school enrollment, sex, race, and Hispanic origin, October 1999

     (Numbers in thousands)
                                                                                                                     
                                                                                                                     
                                                                       Civilian labor force                          
                                                                                                                     
                                           Civilian                                                           Not in 
                Characteristic             noninsti-           Percent       Employed          Unemployed      labor 
                                           tutional              of                                            force 
                                          population   Total   popula-                                               
                                                                tion     Total  Percent of  Number    Rate           
                                                                                population                           
                                                                                                                     
     Total, 1999 high school graduates...    2,897     1,749    60.4     1,536     53.0       213     12.2     1,148 
                                                                                                                     
       Men...............................    1,474       928    62.9       821     55.7       107     11.5       546 
       Women.............................    1,423       821    57.7       715     50.3       106     12.9       602 
                                                                                                                     
       White.............................    2,287     1,434    62.7     1,282     56.0       152     10.6       853 
       Black.............................      453       235    51.8       185     40.8        50     21.3       218 
       Hispanic origin...................      329       217    66.2       158     47.9        60     27.5       111 
                                                                                                                     
       Enrolled in college...............    1,822       845    46.4       790     43.3        55      6.5       977 
                                                                                                                     
         Enrolled in 2-year college......      609       387    63.5       366     60.0        21      5.5       222 
         Enrolled in 4-year college......    1,213       458    37.8       424     35.0        34      7.4       755 
                                                                                                                     
         Full-time students..............    1,677       715    42.7       671     40.0        44      6.1       962 
         Part-time students..............      145       129    89.2       118     81.6        11      8.5        16 
                                                                                                                     
         Men.............................      905       427    47.1       400     44.2        26      6.2       479 
         Women...........................      917       418    45.6       389     42.5        29      6.8       499 
                                                                                                                     
         White...........................    1,437       706    49.2       668     46.5        38      5.4       730 
         Black...........................      268        87    32.4        75     27.9        12     13.9       181 
         Hispanic origin.................      139        61    43.6        45     32.5        15      (1)        78 
                                                                                                                     
       Not enrolled in college...........    1,075       904    84.2       746     69.4       158     17.5       170 
                                                                                                                     
         Men.............................      568       501    88.1       420     73.9        81     16.1        67 
         Women...........................      506       403    79.7       326     64.4        78     19.2       103 
                                                                                                                     
         White...........................      851       728    85.6       614     72.2       114     15.6       123 
         Black...........................      185       148    80.0       110     59.5        38     25.6        37 
         Hispanic origin.................      190       157    82.7       112     59.3        44     28.3        33 
                                                                                                                     
     Total, 1998-99 high school                                                                                      
        dropouts(2)......................      524       300    57.3       222     42.4        78     26.1       224 
                                                                                                                     
       Men...............................      243       162    66.8       120     49.5        42     25.8        81 
       Women.............................      282       139    49.2       102     36.2        37     26.4       143 
                                                                                                                     
       White.............................      377       227    60.3       174     46.1        54     23.6       150 
       Black.............................      118        59    50.0        39     33.0        20      (1)        59 
       Hispanic origin...................      119        85    71.4        75     62.8        10     12.0        34 

       1 Data not shown where base is less than 75,000.
       2 Data refer to persons who dropped out of school between October 1998 and October 1999.
         NOTE:  Detail for the above race and Hispanic-origin groups will not sum to totals because data for the
     "other races" group are not presented and Hispanics are included in both the white and black population groups.
     Because of rounding, sum of individual items may not equal totals.  Data reflect revised population controls
     used in the Current Population Survey effective with January 1999 estimates.
     Table 2.  Labor force status of persons 16 to 24 years old by school enrollment, educational attainment, sex,
     race, and Hispanic origin, October 1999

     (Numbers in thousands)
                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                    
                                                                      Civilian labor force                          
                                                                                                                    
                                          Civilian                                                                  
                                          noninsti-                         Employed          Unemployed     Not in 
               Characteristic             tutional            Percent                                         labor 
                                         population   Total     of                                            force 
                                                              popula-          Percent of           Percent         
                                                               tion     Total  population  Number  of labor         
                                                                                                     force          
                                                                                                                    
         Total, 16 to 24 years..........   34,173    22,135    64.8    20,044     58.7      2,091     9.4    12,038 
                                                                                                                    
     Enrolled in school.................   18,371     9,199    50.1     8,380     45.6        819     8.9     9,172 
                                                                                                                    
       Enrolled in high school(1).......    8,971     3,696    41.2     3,186     35.5        510    13.8     5,275 
                                                                                                                    
         Men............................    4,746     1,963    41.4     1,687     35.6        276    14.1     2,783 
         Women..........................    4,225     1,733    41.0     1,498     35.5        234    13.5     2,492 
                                                                                                                    
         White..........................    6,990     3,153    45.1     2,765     39.6        388    12.3     3,837 
         Black..........................    1,470       391    26.6       276     18.8        115    29.3     1,079 
         Hispanic origin................    1,256       398    31.6       292     23.2        106    26.6       859 
                                                                                                                    
       Enrolled in college..............    9,400     5,503    58.5     5,194     55.3        309     5.6     3,897 
                                                                                                                    
         Enrolled in 2-year college.....    2,405     1,673    69.6     1,578     65.6         95     5.7       732 
         Enrolled in 4-year college.....    6,995     3,829    54.7     3,616     51.7        213     5.6     3,165 
                                                                                                                    
         Full-time students.............    7,976     4,258    53.4     4,022     50.4        236     5.6     3,718 
         Part-time students.............    1,424     1,245    87.4     1,172     82.3         72     5.8       179 
                                                                                                                    
         Men............................    4,471     2,553    57.1     2,377     53.2        176     6.9     1,918 
         Women..........................    4,929     2,950    59.8     2,817     57.1        133     4.5     1,979 
                                                                                                                    
         White..........................    7,533     4,609    61.2     4,401     58.4        208     4.5     2,924 
         Black..........................    1,183       572    48.3       499     42.2         72    12.7       612 
         Hispanic origin................      747       446    59.8       398     53.3         48    10.8       301 
                                                                                                                    
     Not enrolled in school.............   15,801    12,936    81.9    11,664     73.8      1,272     9.8     2,865 
       16 to 19 years...................    3,671     2,736    74.5     2,261     61.6        475    17.4       935 
       20 to 24 years...................   12,130    10,200    84.1     9,403     77.5        797     7.8     1,930 
                                                                                                                    
       Men..............................    7,889     7,065    89.6     6,382     80.9        683     9.7       824 
         Less than a high school diploma    2,032     1,646    81.0     1,435     70.6        211    12.8       387 
         High school graduates, no                                                                                  
        college.........................    3,667     3,341    91.1     3,013     82.2        328     9.8       327 
         Less than a bachelor's degree..    1,585     1,500    94.7     1,396     88.1        104     7.0        85 
         College graduates..............      605       579    95.6       538     88.9         41     7.0        26 
                                                                                                                    
       Women............................    7,912     5,871    74.2     5,282     66.8        589    10.0     2,041 
         Less than a high school diploma    1,797       865    48.1       694     38.6        171    19.8       932 
         High school graduates, no                                                                                  
        college.........................    3,332     2,593    77.8     2,318     69.6        275    10.6       739 
         Less than a bachelor's degree..    1,814     1,519    83.7     1,428     78.7         91     6.0       295 
         College graduates..............      970       895    92.3       843     86.9         52     5.8        75 
                                                                                                                    
       White............................   12,700    10,593    83.4     9,757     76.8        836     7.9     2,108 
       Black............................    2,463     1,865    75.7     1,485     60.3        380    20.4       598 
       Hispanic origin..................    3,057     2,308    75.5     2,074     67.8        234    10.1       749 

       1  Includes a small number of persons enrolled in grades below high school.
         NOTE:  Detail for the above race and Hispanic-origin groups will not sum to totals because data for the
     "other races" group are not presented and Hispanics are included in both the white and black population groups.
     Because of rounding, sum of individual items may not equal totals.  Data reflect revised population controls
     used in the Current Population Survey effective with January 1999 estimates.