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Technical information:  (202) 606-6378   USDL 99-175

                                         For release:  10:00 A.M. EDT
Media contact:                606-5902   Friday, June 25, 1999


    COLLEGE ENROLLMENT AND WORK ACTIVITY OF 1998 HIGH SCHOOL
                              GRADUATES


   Nearly two-thirds of 1998 high school graduates were enrolled in
colleges or universities in the fall, the U.S. Department of Labor's Bureau
of Labor Statistics reported today.  The proportion of graduates going on
to college was little changed from the prior 2 years.  The rate had been
about 62 percent from 1992 to 1995.
   
   This information is from the Current Population Survey (CPS), a monthly
survey of about 50,000 households that provides data on employment,
unemployment, and other characteristics of the population.  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
   
   Of the 2.8 million youth who graduated from high school in 1998, 1.8
million (65.6 percent) were attending college in October.  The enrollment
rate of young women, 69.1 percent, continued to exceed that of young men,
62.4 percent.  (See table 1.)
   
   Recent high school graduates entering 4-year colleges and universities
were less likely to be in the labor force (41.8 percent) than their
counterparts in 2-year colleges (64.1 percent).  (Labor force participants
are persons who are either employed or unemployed.)  Only nine percent of
recent graduates in college attended school part time, but those who did
were nearly twice as likely to participate in the labor force (83.2
percent) as full-time students (46.7 percent).
   
   About four out of five recent high school graduates who were not
enrolled in school were in the labor force.  These youths had a higher rate
of unemployment (18.4 percent) than youths enrolled in college either part
time (13.2 percent) or full time (10.3 percent).
   
   Approximately half a million youths left school between October 1997
and October 1998 without graduating.  The labor force participation rate of
these dropouts (60.9 percent) was considerably less than that of graduates
not enrolled in school (79.6 percent), and their unemployment rate was much
higher--28.2 percent versus 18.4 percent.  Female high school dropouts were
less likely than male dropouts to participate in the labor force, and their
unemployment rate was about twice that of male dropouts.
   
Youth Enrolled in School
   
   Over half of the 33.4 million persons aged 16 to 24 were enrolled in
school in October 1998--8.7 million youths were enrolled in high school (or
below) and 9.4 million were in college.  Two out of five of those in high

                                  - 2 -

school were in the labor force, and their unemployment rate was 16.0
percent.  Among college students, 59.8 percent were in the labor force;
their unemployment rate was 7.0 percent.  Eighty-four percent of youths
enrolled in college were full-time students.  These full-time students were
less likely than part-time students to be in the labor force--54.2 percent
versus 88.9 percent.  (See table 2.)
   
Out-of-School Youth
   
   Of the 15.3 million youths aged 16 to 24 who were not enrolled in
school in October 1998, 81.7 percent were in the labor force.  Out-of-
school men were more likely to be in the labor force than women, and older
youth (ages 20 to 24) participated in the labor force more than younger
ones (ages 16 to 19).
   
   Among youth not in school, participation rates were much higher for
those with a high school degree (no college)--92.5 percent for men and 76.9
percent for women--than for those without a high school diploma--77.2 percent
for men and only 49.9 percent for women.  The unemployment rate for those
who had not graduated from high school was 15.7 percent, compared to 9.2
percent for those with a high school diploma (no college).
   
Technical Note

   The estimates in this release were obtained from a supplement to the
October 1998 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 Bureau of the Census.
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: 202-606-STAT; TDD phone: 
202-606-5897; TDD message referral phone number: 1-800-326-2577.
   
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 1998 high school graduates and 1997-98 high school dropouts 16 to 24 years old
     by school enrollment, sex, race, and Hispanic origin, October 1998

     (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, 1998 high school graduates...    2,810     1,692    60.2     1,451     51.7       241     14.2     1,118 
                                                                                                                     
       Men...............................    1,452       922    63.5       801     55.2       121     13.1       530 
       Women.............................    1,358       770    56.7       651     47.9       120     15.5       588 
                                                                                                                     
       White.............................    2,277     1,394    61.2     1,214     53.3       180     12.9       883 
       Black.............................      393       233    59.3       188     47.8        45     19.4       160 
       Hispanic origin...................      314       211    67.2       155     49.4        56     26.4       103 
                                                                                                                     
       Enrolled in college...............    1,844       924    50.1       825     44.7        99     10.7       920 
                                                                                                                     
         Enrolled in 2-year college......      685       439    64.1       382     55.8        56     12.8       246 
         Enrolled in 4-year college......    1,159       485    41.8       442     38.1        43      8.8       674 
                                                                                                                     
         Full-time students..............    1,675       783    46.7       702     41.9        80     10.3       892 
         Part-time students..............      170       141    83.2       123     72.2        19     13.2        28 
                                                                                                                     
         Men.............................      906       462    51.1       413     45.6        50     10.7       443 
         Women...........................      938       461    49.1       412     43.9        49     10.7       477 
                                                                                                                     
         White...........................    1,499       767    51.2       684     45.6        83     10.8       732 
         Black...........................      244       121    49.4       109     44.8        11      9.3       123 
         Hispanic origin.................      149        95    63.7        70     47.3        25     25.8        54 
                                                                                                                     
       Not enrolled in college...........      965       768    79.6       627     64.9       142     18.4       197 
                                                                                                                     
         Men.............................      546       459    84.1       388     71.0        71     15.5        87 
         Women...........................      419       309    73.7       239     56.9        70     22.7       110 
                                                                                                                     
         White...........................      778       627    80.6       530     68.1        97     15.5       151 
         Black...........................      149       113    75.6        79     52.7        34     30.2        37 
         Hispanic origin.................      165       116    70.3        85     51.4        31     26.9        49 
                                                                                                                     
     Total, 1997-98 high school                                                                                      
        dropouts(1)......................      505       308    60.9       221     43.7        87     28.2       197 
                                                                                                                     
       Men...............................      257       164    63.9       133     51.8        31     19.0        93 
       Women.............................      248       143    57.8        88     35.4        56     38.7       105 
                                                                                                                     
       White.............................      384       257    67.0       194     50.6        63     24.5       127 
       Black.............................       98        46    47.2        24     24.2        23      (2)        52 
       Hispanic origin...................      120        82    68.5        60     50.0        22     27.1        38 

       1 Data refer to persons who dropped out of school between October 1997 and October 1998.
       2 Data not shown where base is less than 75,000.
         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 1998

     (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..........   33,445    21,691    64.9    19,575     58.5      2,116     9.8    11,754 
                                                                                                                    
     Enrolled in school.................   18,174     9,207    50.7     8,241     45.3        967    10.5     8,967 
                                                                                                                    
       Enrolled in high school(1).......    8,729     3,561    40.8     2,991     34.3        571    16.0     5,168 
                                                                                                                    
         Men............................    4,607     1,875    40.7     1,545     33.5        330    17.6     2,732 
         Women..........................    4,122     1,687    40.9     1,446     35.1        241    14.3     2,435 
                                                                                                                    
         White..........................    6,759     3,000    44.4     2,600     38.5        400    13.3     3,759 
         Black..........................    1,516       454    29.9       315     20.8        139    30.5     1,062 
         Hispanic origin................    1,128       303    26.9       224     19.8         79    26.1       825 
                                                                                                                    
       Enrolled in college..............    9,445     5,646    59.8     5,250     55.6        396     7.0     3,799 
                                                                                                                    
         Enrolled in 2-year college.....    2,663     1,920    72.1     1,746     65.5        175     9.1       743 
         Enrolled in 4-year college.....    6,782     3,726    54.9     3,504     51.7        221     5.9     3,056 
                                                                                                                    
         Full-time students.............    7,939     4,306    54.2     3,982     50.2        324     7.5     3,633 
         Part-time students.............    1,506     1,340    88.9     1,268     84.1         72     5.4       167 
                                                                                                                    
         Men............................    4,451     2,573    57.8     2,382     53.5        191     7.4     1,878 
         Women..........................    4,994     3,073    61.5     2,868     57.4        205     6.7     1,921 
                                                                                                                    
         White..........................    7,633     4,720    61.8     4,419     57.9        301     6.4     2,913 
         Black..........................    1,137       644    56.6       569     50.0         75    11.7       493 
         Hispanic origin................      829       526    63.5       458     55.3         68    12.9       303 
                                                                                                                    
     Not enrolled in school.............   15,271    12,484    81.7    11,334     74.2      1,149     9.2     2,788 
       16 to 19 years...................    3,471     2,531    72.9     2,067     59.6        464    18.3       940 
       20 to 24 years...................   11,801     9,953    84.3     9,267     78.5        686     6.9     1,848 
                                                                                                                    
       Men..............................    7,795     6,922    88.8     6,308     80.9        615     8.9       873 
         Less than a high school diploma    2,241     1,730    77.2     1,489     66.4        241    13.9       511 
         High school graduates, no                                                                                  
        college.........................    3,508     3,244    92.5     2,964     84.5        280     8.6       264 
         Less than a bachelor's degree..    1,483     1,399    94.3     1,326     89.4         73     5.2        84 
         College graduates..............      564       550    97.5       529     93.8         21     3.8        14 
                                                                                                                    
       Women............................    7,476     5,561    74.4     5,026     67.2        535     9.6     1,915 
         Less than a high school diploma    1,701       849    49.9       685     40.3        164    19.3       852 
         High school graduates, no                                                                                  
        college.........................    3,151     2,424    76.9     2,184     69.3        240     9.9       727 
         Less than a bachelor's degree..    1,807     1,515    83.8     1,401     77.5        114     7.5       292 
         College graduates..............      817       773    94.7       757     92.7         16     2.1        44 
                                                                                                                    
       White............................   12,340    10,332    83.7     9,528     77.2        804     7.8     2,008 
       Black............................    2,364     1,733    73.3     1,433     60.6        300    17.3       631 
       Hispanic origin..................    3,077     2,377    77.3     2,134     69.3        244    10.3       699 

       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.