Technical information:  (202) 691-6378     USDL 07-0604
               http://www.bls.gov/cps/
                                           For release:  10:00 A.M. EDT
Media contact:                691-5902     Thursday, April 26, 2007


                    COLLEGE ENROLLMENT AND WORK ACTIVITY OF 
                          2006 HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATES

   In October 2006, 65.8 percent of high school graduates from the class of
2006 were enrolled in colleges or universities, according to data released
today by the U.S. Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics.  Since
2001, the college enrollment rate for recent high school graduates has been
trending upward.
   
   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 2.5 million youth who graduated from high school between October
2005 and October 2006, 1.6 million (65.8 percent) were attending college in
October 2006.  The college enrollment rate of young women, 66.0 percent, was 
about the same as that of young men, 65.5 percent.  Asians were considerably 
more likely than whites, blacks, and Hispanics to be enrolled in college in 
the fall following their high school graduation.
   
   Among recent high school graduates enrolled in college, 92.3 percent were 
full-time students.  Of these full-time students, 40.8 percent were in the la- 
bor force, either working or looking for work, in October 2006.  In contrast, 
81.0 percent of part-time college students participated in the labor force.
   
   More than 6 in 10 recent high school graduates who were enrolled in college 
attended 4-year institutions.  The labor force participation rate for these 
students was 35.0 percent, and their unemployment rate was 5.5 percent.  In 
contrast, 58.8 percent of recent high school graduates enrolled in 2-year in-
stitutions were in the labor force, and their unemployment rate was 11.5 per-
cent.  (See table 1.)
   
   Recent high school graduates who were not enrolled in college in the fall of 
2006 were more likely than enrolled graduates to be in the labor force (76.4 
versus 43.9 percent).  The unemployment rate for those not enrolled in college 
was 25.0 percent in October 2006, compared with 8.5 percent for their counter-
parts who were enrolled in college (either 2- or 4-year institutions).
   
   Between October 2005 and October 2006, about 444,000 young people dropped out 
of high school.  The labor force participation rate for these dropouts (51.4 per-
cent) was considerably lower than the participation rate for recent high school 
graduates who had not enrolled in college (76.4 percent).  The unemployment rate 
for recent high school dropouts (23.1 percent) was about the same as that for 
recent high school graduates who were not enrolled in college (25.0 percent).  
Among recent high school dropouts, young men were more likely than young women 
to be participating in the labor force in October 2006 (56.0 and 45.1 percent, 
respectively).

                                  - 2 -
   
Youth Enrolled in School
   
   In October 2006, 20.8 million 16- to 24-year olds were either enrolled
in high school (10.3 million) or college (10.5 million).  Among high school
students, 31.4 percent were engaged in some form of labor force activity in
October.  Among college students, 49.4 percent of those who were enrolled
full time also participated in the labor force, while 85.8 percent of part-
time college students were in the labor force.  (See table 2.)
   
   Overall, the unemployment rate for high school students (14.5 percent)
was higher than for college students (5.7 percent).  Unemployment rates for
black (23.5 percent) and Hispanic (19.3 percent) high school students con-
tinued to be higher than for whites (12.2 percent).  Among college students, 
blacks had the highest unemployment rate (11.2 percent), while Hispanic and 
white college students had rates that were about equal (5.4 and 5.3 percent, 
respectively).
   
Out-of-School Youth
   
   Of the 16.3 million 16- to 24-year olds not enrolled in school in October 
2006, 81.8 percent were in the labor force.  Among youth not in school, men 
were more likely than women to be in the labor force, 87.9 percent compared 
with 75.1 percent.  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 youths who had col-
lege degrees were 7.6 percent for men and 5.0 percent for women.  In con-
trast, youths without a high school diploma who were not enrolled in school 
had unemployment rates of 12.6 percent for men and 25.9 percent for women.
   
   
   
   
   

                                  - 3 -

Technical Note


    The estimates in this release were obtained from a supplement to the
October 2006 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 2006.
 
    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.
Other schooling, including trade schools; on-the-job training; and courses  
that do not require physical presence in school, such as correspondence
courses or other courses of independent study, is included only if the
credits granted count towards promotion in regular school.

    Full-time and part-time enrollment in college.  College students are
classified as attending full time if they were taking 12 hours of classes
or more (or 9 hours of graduate classes) during an average school week and
as part time if they were taking fewer hours.
 
    High school graduation status.  Persons who were not enrolled in school
at the time of the survey were asked whether they had graduated from high
school.  Those who had graduated were asked when they completed their high
school education.  Persons who had not graduated, that is, school dropouts,
were asked when they last attended a regular school.  Those who were
enrolled in college at the time of the survey also were asked when they
graduated from high school.
 
 
 
 

   Table 1.  Labor force status of 2006 high school graduates and 2005-06 high school dropouts 16 to 24 years old 
   by school enrollment, sex, race, and Hispanic or Latino ethnicity, October 2006
   
   (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, 2006 high school graduates (1)....  2,495     1,372     55.0      1,148     46.0        224    16.4     1,123
   
                                                                                                                       
     Men....................................  1,251       657     52.5        534     42.7        122    18.7       595
     Women..................................  1,243       716     57.5        614     49.3        102    14.2       528
                                                                                                                       
     White..................................  1,987     1,144     57.6        977     49.2        166    14.5       843
     Black or African American..............    309       150     48.7         97     31.4         53    35.6       158
     Asian..................................    125        45     35.9         43     34.7          2     (2)        80
     Hispanic or Latino ethnicity...........    353       199     56.4        171     48.5         28    13.9       154
                                                                                                                       
     Enrolled in college....................  1,641       720     43.9        659     40.2         61     8.5       921
                                                                                                                       
       Enrolled in 2-year college...........    612       360     58.8        318     52.1         41    11.5       252
       Enrolled in 4-year college...........  1,029       360     35.0        340     33.1         20     5.5       669
                                                                                                                       
       Full-time students...................  1,514       617     40.8        569     37.6         48     7.7       897
       Part-time students...................    127       102     81.0         89     70.5         13    12.9        24
                                                                                                                    
       Men..................................    820       316     38.5        287     34.9         30     9.3       504
       Women................................    820       404     49.2        372     45.4         31     7.8       416
                                                                                                                    
       White................................  1,322       605     45.7        563     42.5         42     6.9       718
       Black or African American............    170        64     37.9         49     28.7         16     (2)       105
       Asian................................    103        33     31.7         32     30.7          1     (2)        70
       Hispanic or Latino ethnicity.........    206        92     44.6         82     40.0          9    10.1       114
                                                                                                                       
     Not enrolled in college................    854       652     76.4        489     57.2        163    25.0       202
                                                                                                                       
       Men..................................    431       341     79.0        248     57.5         93    27.3        90
       Women................................    423       312     73.7        241     57.0         70    22.6       111
                                                                                                                       
       White................................    664       539     81.2        415     62.4        124    23.1       125
       Black or African American............    139        86     61.9         48     34.7         38    44.0        53
       Asian................................     22        12      (2)         12      (2)          1     (2)        10
       Hispanic or Latino ethnicity.........    147       107     72.9         89     60.4         18    17.2        40
                                                                                                                       
   Total, 2005-06 high school dropouts (3)..    444       228     51.4        176     39.5         53    23.1       216
                                                                                                                       
     Men....................................    257       144     56.0        117     45.5         27    18.9       113
     Women..................................    187        85     45.1         59     31.4         26    30.4       103
                                                                                                                    
     White..................................    334       178     53.2        144     43.0         34    19.2       156
     Black or African American..............     79        36     45.6         21     26.8         15     (2)        43
     Asian..................................     19         8      (2)          8      (2)         -      (2)        11
     Hispanic or Latino ethnicity...........    137        64     47.1         47     34.4         17     (2)        72
   
      1 Data refer to persons who graduated from high school between October 2005 and October 2006.
      2 Data not shown where base is less than 75,000.
      3 Data refer to persons who dropped out of school between October 2005 and October 2006.
      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 2006.
   
   
   
   
   
   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 2006
   
   (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..........   37,047    22,300     60.2     20,016     54.0      2,285    10.2    14,746 
                                                                                                                    
   Enrolled in school.................   20,797     9,001     43.3      8,204     39.4        797     8.9    11,796 
                                                                                                                    
     Enrolled in high school (1)......   10,315     3,235     31.4      2,767     26.8        468    14.5     7,080 
                                                                                                                    
       Men............................    5,283     1,587     30.0      1,343     25.4        244    15.4     3,696 
       Women..........................    5,032     1,648     32.7      1,424     28.3        224    13.6     3,384 
                                                                                                                    
       White..........................    7,807     2,639     33.8      2,318     29.7        321    12.2     5,168 
       Black or African American......    1,724       419     24.3        321     18.6         99    23.5     1,305 
       Asian..........................      341        55     16.1         48     14.0          7     (2)       286 
       Hispanic or Latino ethnicity...    1,720       342     19.9        276     16.1         66    19.3     1,377 
                                                                                                                    
     Enrolled in college..............   10,482     5,766     55.0      5,437     51.9        329     5.7     4,716 
                                                                                                                    
       Enrolled in 2-year college.....    2,705     1,753     64.8      1,636     60.5        117     6.7       952 
       Enrolled in 4-year college.....    7,777     4,013     51.6      3,801     48.9        212     5.3     3,764 
                                                                                                                    
       Full-time students.............    8,869     4,382     49.4      4,129     46.6        253     5.8     4,487 
       Part-time students.............    1,613     1,384     85.8      1,308     81.1         75     5.4       230 
                                                                                                                    
       Men............................    4,859     2,586     53.2      2,424     49.9        163     6.3     2,273 
       Women..........................    5,623     3,179     56.5      3,013     53.6        166     5.2     2,444 
                                                                                                                    
       White..........................    8,190     4,650     56.8      4,405     53.8        245     5.3     3,540 
       Black or African American......    1,303       635     48.7        564     43.2         71    11.2       669 
       Asian..........................      670       282     42.1        279     41.7          3     0.9       388 
       Hispanic or Latino ethnicity...    1,198       717     59.8        678     56.6         39     5.4       481 
                                                                                                                    
   Not enrolled in school.............   16,250    13,299     81.8     11,811     72.7      1,488    11.2     2,950 
     16 to 19 years...................    3,074     2,238     72.8      1,798     58.5        440    19.6       836 
     20 to 24 years...................   13,176    11,061     84.0     10,013     76.0      1,048     9.5     2,114 
                                                                                                                    
     Men..............................    8,564     7,530     87.9      6,692     78.1        838    11.1     1,034 
       Less than a high school                                                                                      
        diploma.......................    1,925     1,528     79.4      1,335     69.4        193    12.6       397 
       High school graduates, no                                                                                    
        college (3)...................    4,008     3,531     88.1      3,079     76.8        452    12.8       477 
       Some college or associate                                                                                    
        degree........................    1,674     1,567     93.7      1,444     86.3        124     7.9       106 
       Bachelor's degree and                                                                                        
        higher (4)....................      958       903     94.3        834     87.1         69     7.6        55 
                                                                                                                    
    Women.............................    7,686     5,769     75.1      5,119     66.6        650    11.3     1,916 
       Less than a high school                                                                                      
        diploma.......................    1,506       796     52.9        590     39.2        206    25.9       709 
       High school graduates, no                                                                                    
        college (3)...................    3,147     2,295     72.9      2,008     63.8        287    12.5       852 
       Some college or associate                                                                                    
        degree........................    1,903     1,626     85.5      1,522     80.0        105     6.4       276 
       Bachelor's degree and                                                                                        
        higher (4)....................    1,130     1,052     93.0        999     88.4         53     5.0        79 
                                                                                                                    
     White............................   12,769    10,636     83.3      9,643     75.5        993     9.3     2,133 
     Black or African American........    2,418     1,866     77.2      1,447     59.9        418    22.4       552 
     Asian............................      455       340     74.6        316     69.4         23     6.9       116 
     Hispanic or Latino ethnicity.....    3,518     2,742     77.9      2,506     71.2        236     8.6       776 
     
      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 persons with a high school diploma or equivalent.
      4 Includes persons with a bachelor's, master's, professional, and doctoral degrees.
      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 2006.