Technical information:  (202) 691-6378         USDL 05-487
               http://www.bls.gov/cps/
                                               For release:  10:00 A.M. EST
Media contact:                691-5902         Friday, March 25, 2005


    COLLEGE ENROLLMENT AND WORK ACTIVITY OF 2004 HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATES

   In October 2004, 66.7 percent of high school graduates from the class of
2004 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 almost 3 per-
centage points higher than a year earlier and approached the historical
high for the series (67.0 percent in 1997).
   
   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 en-
rollment status, level of education, and enrollment status a year earlier.
The CPS is a monthly nationwide survey of about 60,000 households that ob-
tains 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 2.8 million youth who graduated from high school between October
2003 and October 2004, 1.8 million (66.7 percent) were attending college in
October 2004.  (See table 1.)   The enrollment rate of young women, 71.6 per-
cent, continued to exceed that of young men, 61.4 percent.  Asian high school
graduates (76.0 percent) were more likely than white graduates (68.4 percent)
to be enrolled in college.  Black and Hispanic or Latino graduates were about
equally likely to be college students in the fall--61.1 and 61.9 percent,
respectively.  
   
   Among recent high school graduates enrolled in college, 93.2 percent were
full-time students.  Of these full-time students, 42.1 percent were employed
or looking for work in October 2004.  In contrast, 82.4 percent of part-time
college students participated in the labor force.
   
   Two-thirds of the 2004 high school graduates enrolled in college attended
4-year institutions.  The labor force participation rate for these students
was 36.5 percent, and their unemployment rate was 11.8 percent.  In contrast,
61.1 percent of the recent high school graduates enrolled in 2-year institu-
tions were in the labor force, and their unemployment rate was 15.0 percent.
(See table 1.)   

   Recent high school graduates who were not enrolled in college in the fall
of 2004 were more likely than enrolled graduates to participate in the labor
force (77.5 versus 44.8 percent).  The unemployment rate for those not en-
rolled in college was 20.0 percent in October 2004.
   
   Between October 2003 and October 2004, about 500,000 young people dropped
out of high school.  The labor force participation rate for these dropouts
(53.7 percent) was considerably lower than the participation rate for recent
high school graduates who had not enrolled in college (77.5 percent).  Among
recent high school dropouts, men were more likely than women to be participa-
ting in the labor force in October 2004 (59.9 versus 45.9 percent).  The un-
employment rate for high school dropouts was 39.9 percent in October 2004,
nearly twice the unemployment rate of high school graduates who had not en-
rolled in college (20.0 percent).
   
                                  - 2 -

Youth Enrolled in School
   
   In October 2004, 20.2 million 16- to 24-year olds were either enrolled
in high school (9.4 million) or college (10.8 million).  Among high school
students, 31.8 percent were engaged in some form of labor force activity
in October.  The labor force participation rate for high school students
hovered around 40 percent throughout the 1990s but has fallen in recent
years.  Among college students who were enrolled full time, 53.7 percent
participated in the labor force.  In contrast, 87.0 percent of part-time
college students participated in the labor force.  (See table 2.)
   
   Overall, the unemployment rate for high school students (16.5 percent)
was higher than for college students (8.2 percent).  Unemployment rates
for black (33.3 percent) and Hispanic or Latino (24.4 percent) high school
students continued to be higher than for whites (14.3 percent).  Among
college students, blacks and Asians had the highest unemployment rates
(15.3 and 12.8 percent, respectively), while Hispanic or Latino and white
college students had similar rates (7.6 and 7.1 percent, respectively).
   
Out-of-School Youth
   
   Of the 16.3 million 16- to 24-year olds not enrolled in school in
October 2004, 80.8 percent were in the labor force.  Among youth not in
school, men were more likely than women to be in the labor force.  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 youth who had college
degrees were 5.0 percent for men and 5.6 percent for women.  In contrast,
youth not enrolled in school with less than a high school diploma had
unemployment rates of 20.0 percent for men and 23.6 percent for women.
   



Technical Note


   The estimates in this release were obtained from a supplement to the
October 2004 Current Population Survey (CPS), a monthly survey of about
60,000 households which provides information on the labor force, employ-
ment, and unemployment for the nation.  The survey is conducted monthly
for the Bureau of Labor Statistics by the U.S. Census Bureau.  Data re-
late 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 2004.

   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 infor-
mation, and error 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 toward 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 2004 high school graduates and 2003-04 high school dropouts 16 to 24 years old 
   by school enrollment, sex, race, and Hispanic or Latino ethnicity, October 2004
   
   (Numbers in thousands)
                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                    
                                                                     Civilian labor force                           
                                                                                                                    
                                        Civilian                                                             Not in 
             Characteristic             noninsti-                           Employed          Unemployed      labor 
                                        tutional           Percent of                                         force 
                                       population   Total  population                                               
                                                                        Total  Percent of  Number    Rate           
                                                                               population                           
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        
   Total, 2004 high school                                                                                 
      graduates (1)...................    2,752     1,533     55.7      1,282     46.6        251    16.4     1,219 
                                                                                                                    
     Men..............................    1,327       764     57.6        645     48.6        119    15.6       562 
     Women............................    1,425       768     53.9        636     44.6        132    17.2       657 
                                                                                                                    
     White............................    2,111     1,211     57.4      1,037     49.1        174    14.4       900 
     Black or African American........      416       204     48.9        152     36.6         51    25.1       213 
     Asian............................      121        57     46.7         46     38.0         10     (2)        65 
     Hispanic or Latino ethnicity.....      286       153     53.5        129     45.3         23    15.3       133 
                                                                                                                    
     Enrolled in college..............    1,835       821     44.8        712     38.8        109    13.3     1,013 
                                                                                                                    
       Enrolled in 2-year college.....      618       378     61.1        321     51.9         57    15.0       240 
       Enrolled in 4-year college.....    1,217       444     36.5        392     32.2         52    11.8       773 
                                                                                                                    
       Full-time students.............    1,711       720     42.1        624     36.5         95    13.3       991 
       Part-time students.............      124       102     82.4         88     71.3         14    13.5        22 
                                                                                                                    
       Men............................      815       347     42.6        293     35.9         54    15.6       468 
       Women..........................    1,020       475     46.6        420     41.1         55    11.6       545 
                                                                                                                    
       White..........................    1,444       685     47.5        602     41.7         84    12.2       759 
       Black or African American......      254        91     35.9         72     28.2         19    21.3       163 
       Asian..........................       92        33     35.4         27     29.7          5     (2)        60 
       Hispanic or Latino ethnicity...      177        74     42.0         67     37.8          7     (2)       103 
                                                                                                                    
     Not enrolled in college..........      918       711     77.5        569     62.1        142    20.0       206 
                                                                                                                    
       Men............................      512       418     81.6        353     68.9         65    15.6        94 
       Women..........................      406       294     72.4        217     53.5         77    26.2       112 
                                                                                                                    
       White..........................      667       526     78.8        435     65.2         91    17.3       141 
       Black or African American......      162       112     69.4         81     49.8         32    28.2        49 
       Asian..........................       29        24      (2)         19      (2)          5     (2)         5 
       Hispanic or Latino ethnicity...      109        79     72.1         63     57.3         16    20.4        31 
                                                                                                                    
   Total, 2003-04 high school                                                                               
      dropouts (3)....................      496       267     53.7        160     32.3        106    39.9       229 
                                                                                                                    
     Men..............................      278       166     59.9         99     35.6         67    40.4       112 
     Women............................      218       100     45.9         61     28.1         39    38.9       118 
                                                                                                                    
     White............................      370       196     53.0        140     37.7         56    28.8       174 
     Black or African American........       91        50     54.4         11     12.3         39     (2)        42 
     Asian............................        2         2      (2)          2      (2)        -        -        -   
     Hispanic or Latino ethnicity.....      154        87     56.8         61     39.3         27    30.7        67 

     1 Data refer to persons who graduated from high school between October 2003 and October 2004.
     2 Data not shown where base is less than 75,000.
     3 Data refer to persons who dropped out of school between October 2003 and October 2004.
     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 2004.





   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 2004
   
   (Numbers in thousands)
                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                    
                                                                     Civilian labor force                           
                                                                                                                    
                                        Civilian                                                             Not in 
             Characteristic             noninsti-                           Employed          Unemployed      labor 
                                        tutional           Percent of                                         force 
                                       population   Total  population                                               
                                                                        Total  Percent of  Number    Rate           
                                                                               population                           
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        
       Total, 16 to 24 years..........   36,504    22,484     61.6     19,847     54.4      2,637    11.7    14,020 
                                                                                                                    
   Enrolled in school.................   20,173     9,293     46.1      8,283     41.1      1,010    10.9    10,880 
                                                                                                                    
     Enrolled in high school (1)......    9,372     2,982     31.8      2,490     26.6        493    16.5     6,389 
                                                                                                                    
       Men............................    4,913     1,545     31.5      1,258     25.6        287    18.6     3,367 
       Women..........................    4,459     1,437     32.2      1,231     27.6        205    14.3     3,022 
                                                                                                                    
       White..........................    7,138     2,503     35.1      2,146     30.1        357    14.3     4,635 
       Black or African American......    1,522       319     20.9        213     14.0        106    33.3     1,204 
       Asian..........................      358        52     14.4         43     11.9          9     (2)       306 
       Hispanic or Latino ethnicity...    1,515       390     25.7        295     19.4         95    24.4     1,125 
                                                                                                                    
     Enrolled in college..............   10,801     6,311     58.4      5,794     53.6        517     8.2     4,490 
                                                                                                                    
       Enrolled in 2-year college.....    2,684     1,867     69.5      1,673     62.3        193    10.4       818 
       Enrolled in 4-year college.....    8,117     4,444     54.8      4,120     50.8        324     7.3     3,672 
                                                                                                                    
       Full-time students.............    9,256     4,967     53.7      4,534     49.0        433     8.7     4,289 
       Part-time students.............    1,545     1,344     87.0      1,260     81.5         84     6.3       201 
                                                                                                                    
       Men............................    4,934     2,751     55.8      2,503     50.7        248     9.0     2,183 
       Women..........................    5,867     3,560     60.7      3,291     56.1        269     7.6     2,307 
                                                                                                                    
       White..........................    8,486     5,130     60.5      4,767     56.2        364     7.1     3,355 
       Black or African American......    1,276       678     53.1        574     45.0        104    15.3       598 
       Asian..........................      712       302     42.4        263     37.0         39    12.8       410 
       Hispanic or Latino ethnicity...    1,245       758     60.9        700     56.2         58     7.6       487 
                                                                                                                    
   Not enrolled in school.............   16,331    13,191     80.8     11,564     70.8      1,627    12.3     3,140 
     16 to 19 years...................    3,210     2,322     72.4      1,858     57.9        464    20.0       887 
     20 to 24 years...................   13,121    10,868     82.8      9,705     74.0      1,163    10.7     2,253 
                                                                                                                    
     Men..............................    8,560     7,485     87.4      6,578     76.9        907    12.1     1,075 
       Less than a high school                                                                                      
         diploma......................    2,140     1,668     77.9      1,334     62.3        334    20.0       472 
       High school graduates, no                                                                                    
         college (3)..................    3,978     3,540     89.0      3,110     78.2        429    12.1       438 
       Some college or associate                                                                                    
         degree.......................    1,658     1,532     92.4      1,425     86.0        106     6.9       126 
       Bachelor's degree and higher...      784       746     95.1        708     90.4         37     5.0        38 
                                                                                                                    
     Women............................    7,771     5,706     73.4      4,986     64.2        720    12.6     2,066 
       Less than a high school                                                                                      
         diploma......................    1,626       867     53.3        662     40.7        205    23.6       759 
       High school graduates, no                                                                                    
         college (3)..................    3,265     2,384     73.0      2,050     62.8        334    14.0       881 
       Some college or associate                                                                                    
         degree.......................    1,799     1,478     82.2      1,352     75.2        126     8.5       321 
       Bachelor's degree and higher...    1,081       976     90.3        921     85.2         55     5.6       105 
                                                                                                                    
     White............................   12,842    10,486     81.7      9,441     73.5      1,045    10.0     2,356 
     Black or African American........    2,466     1,924     78.0      1,484     60.2        440    22.9       542 
     Asian............................      425       333     78.4        296     69.7         37    11.1        92 
     Hispanic or Latino ethnicity.....    3,541     2,737     77.3      2,429     68.6        308    11.2       804 

     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 2004.