Internet address:  http://stats.bls.gov:80/newsrels.htm
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                                           For release:  10:00 A.M. EDT
Media contact:                606-5902     Wednesday, July 23, 1997


    COLLEGE ENROLLMENT AND WORK ACTIVITY OF 1996 HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATES
                                     
                                     
     Sixty-five percent of 1996 high school graduates were attending
colleges or universities by the fall, according to data released today by
the U.S. Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics.  This rate was
an all-time high.  From 1992 to 1995, the enrollment rate was about 62
percent.

     This information is from the Current Population Survey, a monthly
nationwide survey of about 50,000 households, conducted for BLS by the
Bureau of the Census.  Each October, the survey includes special questions
on the school enrollment and high school graduation status of persons 16 to
24 years of age.

Recent High School Graduates and Dropouts

     Of a total of 2.7 million youth who graduated from high school in
1996, about 1.7 million were attending college in October.  Young women
were more likely than young men to enter colleges or universities--69.7
percent compared with 60.1 percent.  A higher proportion of the white
graduates were enrolled in college the following fall (65.8 percent) than
were blacks (55.3 percent) and Hispanics (50.7 percent).  (See table 1.)

     Nearly two-thirds of the 1996 high school graduates who were freshmen
in college were enrolled in 4-year institutions.  About two-fifths of them
were combining school with some labor force activity.  In contrast, a much
higher proportion (about three-fifths) of the youth enrolled in 2-year
colleges were in the labor force.

     The labor force participation rate was 78.1 percent among the high
school graduates who did not enroll in college in the fall of 1996.
Despite improvements in the economy and employment since mid-1992, the
unemployment rate for this group was 24.4 percent in October 1996.

     Between October of 1995 and October of 1996, roughly one-half million
young people dropped out of high school.  Of these, only 58.4 percent were
in the labor force, and their unemployment rate was 27.6 percent.  Among
high school dropouts, men were more likely than women to be participating
in the labor force (74.0 versus 43.6 percent).

Youth Enrolled in School

     In October 1996, a total of 17.4 million youth aged 16 to 24 were
either enrolled in college (9.0 million) or high school and below (8.4

                                  - 2 -

million).  Nearly 85 percent of  the college students were enrolled full
time, just over half of whom participated in the labor force.  In contrast,
nearly 90 percent of the part-time college students participated in the
labor force.  The unemployment rate for full-time college students was 7.4
percent, somewhat higher than the 4.1-percent rate for part-time college
students.

     Among high school students, 41.4 percent were engaged in some labor
force activity in October, and their unemployment rate was 15.6 percent.
Unemployment rates for black (33.5 percent) and Hispanic (21.3 percent)
high school students continued to be higher than for whites (12.8 percent).
(See table 2.)

Out-of-School Youth

     A total of 15.1 million youth aged 16 to 24 were not enrolled in
school in October 1996, and slightly more than 80 percent of them were in
the labor force.  Among those not enrolled in school, men were more likely
than women to be in the labor force.  Blacks and Hispanics had lower labor
force participation rates and higher unemployment rates than whites.

     Higher levels of education generally correspond to lower unemployment
rates.  Both men and women who had graduated from college had the lowest
rates--5.2 and 2.9 percent, respectively.  In contrast, those with less
than a high school diploma experienced the highest unemployment rates--21.7
percent for men and 28.7 percent for women.

  ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 
 |   Information in this release will be made available to sensory        |
 |impaired individuals upon request.  Voice phone:  202-606-STAT; TDD     |   
 |phone: 202-606-5897; TDD message referral phone number:  1-800-326-2577.|
  ------------------------------------------------------------------------
     Table 1.  Labor force status of 1996 high school graduates and 1995-96 high school dropouts 16 to 24 years old
     by school enrollment, sex, race, and Hispanic origin, October 1996

     (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, 1996 high school graduates...|    2,660 |   1,528|  57.4  |   1,225|   46.1   |     303|  19.8  |   1,132
                                         |          |        |        |        |          |        |        |        
       Men...............................|    1,297 |     771|  59.5  |     605|   46.6   |     167|  21.6  |     526
       Women.............................|    1,363 |     756|  55.5  |     620|   45.5   |     136|  18.0  |     606
                                         |          |        |        |        |          |        |        |        
       White.............................|    2,092 |   1,253|  59.9  |   1,047|   50.0   |     206|  16.5  |     839
       Black.............................|      416 |     231|  55.6  |     150|   35.9   |      82|  35.4  |     185
       Hispanic origin...................|      227 |     138|  60.6  |     100|   44.2   |      37|  27.1  |      89
                                         |          |        |        |        |          |        |        |        
       Enrolled in college...............|    1,729 |     801|  46.3  |     676|   39.1   |     126|  15.7  |     928
                                         |          |        |        |        |          |        |        |        
         Enrolled in 2-year college......|      615 |     379|  61.7  |     310|   50.4   |      69|  18.3  |     235
         Enrolled in 4-year college......|    1,115 |     422|  37.9  |     366|   32.8   |      57|  13.4  |     692
                                         |          |        |        |        |          |        |        |        
         Full-time students..............|    1,589 |     681|  42.8  |     562|   35.4   |     119|  17.5  |     908
         Part-time students..............|      140 |     120|  86.1  |     113|   81.2   |       7|   5.8  |      19
                                         |          |        |        |        |          |        |        |        
         Men.............................|      779 |     348|  44.7  |     286|   36.7   |      63|  18.0  |     431
         Women...........................|      950 |     453|  47.7  |     390|   41.0   |      63|  14.0  |     497
                                         |          |        |        |        |          |        |        |        
         White...........................|    1,377 |     679|  49.4  |     584|   42.4   |      96|  14.1  |     697
         Black...........................|      230 |      94|  40.9  |      74|   32.0   |      21|  21.8  |     136
         Hispanic origin.................|      115 |      66|  57.4  |      55|   47.3   |      12|   (1)  |      49
                                         |          |        |        |        |          |        |        |        
       Not enrolled in college...........|      931 |     726|  78.1  |     549|   59.0   |     177|  24.4  |     204
                                         |          |        |        |        |          |        |        |        
         Men.............................|      518 |     423|  81.7  |     319|   61.6   |     104|  24.6  |      95
         Women...........................|      413 |     303|  73.5  |     231|   55.9   |      73|  23.9  |     109
                                         |          |        |        |        |          |        |        |        
         White...........................|      716 |     574|  80.2  |     463|   64.7   |     111|  19.3  |     142
         Black...........................|      186 |     137|  73.8  |      76|   40.8   |      61|  44.8  |      49
         Hispanic origin.................|      112 |      71|  63.9  |      46|   41.1   |      26|   (1)  |      40
                                         |          |        |        |        |          |        |        |        
     Total, 1995-96 high school          |          |        |        |        |          |        |        |        
        dropouts(2)......................|      496 |     289|  58.4  |     210|   42.3   |      80|  27.6  |     206
                                         |          |        |        |        |          |        |        |        
       Men...............................|      241 |     178|  74.0  |     123|   51.0   |      56|  31.1  |      63
       Women.............................|      255 |     111|  43.6  |      87|   34.1   |      24|  21.8  |     144
                                         |          |        |        |        |          |        |        |        
       White.............................|      365 |     238|  65.1  |     178|   48.6   |      60|  25.3  |     127
       Black.............................|      111 |      40|  35.7  |      23|   20.7   |      17|   (1)  |      71
       Hispanic origin...................|      105 |      71|  67.7  |      57|   54.5   |      14|   (1)  |      34
     ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
                                                                                                             

       1 Data not shown where base is less than 75,000.
       2 Data refer to persons who dropped out of school between October 1995 and October 1996.
         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.

     Table 2.  Labor force status of persons 16 to 24 years old by school enrollment, educational attainment, sex,
     race, and Hispanic origin, October 1996

     (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..........|   32,452 |  20,989|  64.7  |  18,613|   57.4   |   2,376|  11.3  |  11,463
                                        |          |        |        |        |          |        |        |        
     Enrolled in school.................|   17,381 |   8,749|  50.3  |   7,856|   45.2   |     893|  10.2  |   8,632
                                        |          |        |        |        |          |        |        |        
       Enrolled in high school(1).......|    8,389 |   3,475|  41.4  |   2,933|   35.0   |     543|  15.6  |   4,913
                                        |          |        |        |        |          |        |        |        
         Men............................|    4,487 |   1,834|  40.9  |   1,526|   34.0   |     308|  16.8  |   2,653
         Women..........................|    3,901 |   1,641|  42.1  |   1,407|   36.1   |     234|  14.3  |   2,260
                                        |          |        |        |        |          |        |        |        
         White..........................|    6,543 |   2,955|  45.2  |   2,577|   39.4   |     378|  12.8  |   3,588
         Black..........................|    1,427 |     382|  26.8  |     254|   17.8   |     128|  33.5  |   1,045
         Hispanic origin................|    1,122 |     332|  29.6  |     261|   23.3   |      71|  21.3  |     790
                                        |          |        |        |        |          |        |        |        
       Enrolled in college..............|    8,992 |   5,273|  58.6  |   4,923|   54.7   |     351|   6.6  |   3,718
                                        |          |        |        |        |          |        |        |        
         Enrolled in 2-year college.....|    2,413 |   1,720|  71.3  |   1,580|   65.5   |     140|   8.2  |     692
         Enrolled in 4-year college.....|    6,579 |   3,553|  54.0  |   3,343|   50.8   |     210|   5.9  |   3,026
                                        |          |        |        |        |          |        |        |        
         Full-time students.............|    7,581 |   4,026|  53.1  |   3,726|   49.2   |     299|   7.4  |   3,555
         Part-time students.............|    1,411 |   1,248|  88.4  |   1,197|   84.8   |      51|   4.1  |     164
                                        |          |        |        |        |          |        |        |        
         Men............................|    4,279 |   2,412|  56.4  |   2,254|   52.7   |     158|   6.6  |   1,867
         Women..........................|    4,713 |   2,861|  60.7  |   2,669|   56.6   |     192|   6.7  |   1,852
                                        |          |        |        |        |          |        |        |        
         White..........................|    7,280 |   4,532|  62.2  |   4,269|   58.6   |     263|   5.8  |   2,748
         Black..........................|    1,026 |     454|  44.3  |     398|   38.8   |      56|  12.4  |     571
         Hispanic origin................|      725 |     459|  63.3  |     413|   56.9   |      46|  10.1  |     266
                                        |          |        |        |        |          |        |        |        
     Not enrolled in school.............|   15,071 |  12,241|  81.2  |  10,757|   71.4   |   1,483|  12.1  |   2,831
       16 to 19 years...................|    3,398 |   2,439|  71.8  |   1,906|   56.1   |     533|  21.8  |     960
       20 to 24 years...................|   11,673 |   9,802|  84.0  |   8,851|   75.8   |     951|   9.7  |   1,871
                                        |          |        |        |        |          |        |        |        
       Men..............................|    7,530 |   6,776|  90.0  |   5,978|   79.4   |     799|  11.8  |     754
         Less than a high school diploma|    1,854 |   1,490|  80.4  |   1,167|   63.0   |     323|  21.7  |     364
         High school graduates, no      |          |        |        |        |          |        |        |        
        college.........................|    3,409 |   3,115|  91.4  |   2,750|   80.7   |     365|  11.7  |     294
         Less than a bachelor's degree..|    1,605 |   1,525|  95.0  |   1,447|   90.2   |      77|   5.1  |      80
         College graduates..............|      663 |     647|  97.6  |     613|   92.5   |      34|   5.2  |      16
                                        |          |        |        |        |          |        |        |        
       Women............................|    7,541 |   5,464|  72.5  |   4,780|   63.4   |     684|  12.5  |   2,077
         Less than a high school diploma|    1,757 |     761|  43.3  |     542|   30.9   |     219|  28.7  |     996
         High school graduates, no      |          |        |        |        |          |        |        |        
        college.........................|    3,248 |   2,459|  75.7  |   2,127|   65.5   |     332|  13.5  |     789
         Less than a bachelor's degree..|    1,712 |   1,467|  85.7  |   1,357|   79.3   |     111|   7.5  |     244
         College graduates..............|      824 |     776|  94.2  |     754|   91.4   |      23|   2.9  |      48
                                        |          |        |        |        |          |        |        |        
       White............................|   11,971 |   9,934|  83.0  |   8,986|   75.1   |     948|   9.5  |   2,036
       Black............................|    2,435 |   1,804|  74.1  |   1,321|   54.3   |     483|  26.8  |     631
       Hispanic origin..................|    2,634 |   1,916|  72.8  |   1,641|   62.3   |     275|  14.4  |     717
     _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________
                                                                                                            

       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.