College Enrollment and Work Activity of High School Graduates News Release

For release 10:00 a.m. (ET) Tuesday, April 22, 2025                                USDL-25-0563

Technical information: (202) 691-6378  *  cpsinfo@bls.gov  *  www.bls.gov/cps
Media contact:         (202) 691-5902  *  PressOffice@bls.gov


                 COLLEGE ENROLLMENT AND WORK ACTIVITY OF RECENT HIGH SCHOOL
                                AND COLLEGE GRADUATES -- 2024


In October 2024, 62.8 percent of 2024 high school graduates ages 16 to 24 were enrolled 
in colleges or universities, little changed from the previous year, the U.S. Bureau of 
Labor Statistics reported today. Among 20- to 29-year-olds who received a bachelor's 
degree in 2024, 69.6 percent were employed, also little changed over the year.

Information on school enrollment and employment status is collected monthly in the 
Current Population Survey (CPS), a nationwide survey of about 60,000 households that 
provides information on employment and unemployment. Each October, a supplement to the 
CPS gathers more detailed information about recent degree recipients and school 
enrollment. In addition to data on recent high school graduates ages 16 to 24, this news 
release presents information on recent degree recipients ages 20 to 29. For more 
information, see the Technical Note in this news release.

Highlights from the October 2024 data:

 --Among recent high school graduates ages 16 to 24, 55.4 percent of men and 69.5 
   percent of women were enrolled in college. (See table 1.)

 --Among 16- to 24-year-olds, 40.0 percent of recent high school dropouts were working or 
   looking for work, lower than the labor force participation rate of 66.4 percent for 
   recent high school graduates not enrolled in college. (See table 1.)

 --There were 17.4 million people ages 16 to 24 who were not enrolled in school--44.5 percent
   of all people in this age group. (See table 2.)

 --Among 20- to 29-year-olds, 78.1 percent of recent associate degree recipients, 69.6 
   percent of recent bachelor's degree recipients, and 74.7 percent of recent advanced degree
   recipients were employed. (See table 3.)

 --Among recent bachelor's degree recipients ages 20 to 29, 25.2 percent were enrolled in 
   school. (See table 3.)

Recent High School Graduates and Dropouts (Ages 16 to 24)

Of the 3.2 million youth ages 16 to 24 who graduated from high school between January and 
October 2024, 2.0 million were enrolled in college in October. The college enrollment rate of 
recent high school graduates, at 62.8 percent in October 2024, was little different from the 
rate of 61.4 percent in October 2023. (See table 1.)

Among 2024 high school graduates ages 16 to 24, the college enrollment rate for young women, at
69.5 percent in October 2024, continued to be higher than the rate for young men (55.4 percent).
By race and ethnicity, the college enrollment rate was 94.7 percent for people who are Asian, 
higher than the rate for those who are White (62.2 percent), Black or African American (59.2 
percent), and Hispanic or Latino (55.4 percent).

The labor force participation rate (the proportion of the population that is employed or looking 
for work) for recent high school graduates enrolled in college in October 2024 was 41.2 percent. 
The participation rates for male and female graduates enrolled in college were 43.1 percent and 
39.9 percent, respectively.

Among recent high school graduates enrolled in college in October 2024, about 9 in 10 were 
full-time students. Recent graduates enrolled as full-time students were less likely to be in the
labor force (37.6 percent) than were their peers enrolled part time (76.2 percent).

Among recent high school graduates enrolled in college, 2 out of 3 attended 4-year colleges in 
October 2024. Of these students, 32.7 percent participated in the labor force, lower than the 
rate of recent graduates enrolled in 2-year colleges (58.5 percent).

Recent high school graduates not enrolled in college in October 2024 were more likely to be in 
the labor force than graduates enrolled in college (66.4 percent versus 41.2 percent). This rate
changed little for recent high school graduates not enrolled in college (66.4 percent) over the 
year. For recent graduates enrolled in college, the labor force participation rate increased by 
8.8 percentage points to 41.2 percent over the year. The unemployment rate was 12.0 percent for 
recent graduates enrolled in college and 20.4 percent for recent high school graduates not 
enrolled in college.

Between October 2023 and October 2024, 606,000 young people dropped out of high school. The labor
force participation rate for recent dropouts (40.0 percent) continued to be much lower than the 
rate for recent high school graduates not enrolled in college (66.4 percent). The unemployment 
rate was 18.7 percent for recent high school dropouts and 12.0 percent for recent graduates enrolled
in college.

All Youth Enrolled in High School or College (Ages 16 to 24) 

In October 2024, 21.7 million 16- to 24-year-olds, or 55.5 percent of youth, were enrolled in high
school (9.9 million) or in college (11.8 million). The labor force participation rate for youth 
enrolled in school, at 36.9 percent, was little changed from October 2023 to October 2024. The 
unemployment rate for youth enrolled in school, at 8.3 percent, was little changed from the previous 
year. (See table 2.)

In October 2024, college students continued to be about twice as likely than high school students to
participate in the labor force (49.2 percent versus 22.3 percent). The participation rates for male 
and female high school students were similar, at 21.2 percent and 23.5 percent, respectively.

Among college students, those enrolled full time were much less likely to participate in the labor 
force in October 2024 than were part-time students (44.6 percent versus 81.6 percent). Students at 
4-year colleges were also less likely to be in the labor force than were students at 2-year colleges 
(46.6 percent and 57.4 percent, respectively). Female college students' participation rate was higher
than the rate for male college students (52.7 percent, compared with 44.8 percent). By race and 
ethnicity, the labor force participation rate was lower for Asian college students (37.2 percent) 
than for their Black or African American (48.3 percent), White (51.4 percent), and Hispanic or 
Latino (51.8 percent) counterparts.

In October 2024, the unemployment rate for college students increased by 1.9 percentage points over 
the year, to 7.1 percent, while the rate for high school students, at 11.5 percent, was little changed.

All Youth Not Enrolled in School (Ages 16 to 24)

In October 2024, 17.4 million people ages 16 to 24 were not enrolled in school. The labor force 
participation rate of youth not enrolled in school was 78.5 percent. Among youth not enrolled in 
school in October 2024, young men continued to be more likely than young women to participate in the
labor force (80.6 percent, compared with 76.1 percent). (See table 2.)

Labor force participation rates for young men and young women not enrolled in school were highest for 
those with a bachelor's degree or higher (91.9 percent and 93.7 percent, respectively) and lowest for 
young men and young women with less than a high school diploma (60.8 percent and 48.5 percent, 
respectively).

The unemployment rate for youth ages 16 to 24 not enrolled in school, at 9.7 percent in October 2024, 
changed little over the year. Among those not-enrolled youth who did not have a high school diploma, 
unemployment rates were 17.7 percent for young men and 7.1 percent for young women. The jobless rates 
of young men and young women with at least a bachelor's degree were 7.9 percent and 7.3 percent, 
respectively. Among youth not enrolled in school, the unemployment rates were 13.6 percent for people 
who are Black or African American, 13.6 percent for people who are Asian, 9.8 percent for people who 
are Hispanic or Latino, and 8.7 percent for those who are White.

Recent College Graduates (Ages 20 to 29)

Between January and October 2024, 1.2 million 20- to 29-year-olds earned a bachelor's degree; of these, 
868,000 (or 69.6 percent) were employed in October 2024. Among recent bachelor's degree recipients, 66.7 
percent of men were employed, compared with 71.5 percent of women. The unemployment rate for recent 
college graduates with a bachelor's degree, at 15.3 percent, changed little from the previous year. 
(See table 3.)

Among recent bachelor's degree recipients, 25.2 percent were enrolled in school in October 2024. These
recent graduates who were enrolled in school were less likely to be employed than those who were not 
enrolled (46.1 percent versus 77.5 percent).

Between January and October 2024, 405,000 people ages 20 to 29 earned an advanced degree-- that is, a 
master's, professional, or doctoral degree. Among these recent graduates, 74.7 percent were employed in 
October 2024, down by 9.8 percentage points over the year. The unemployment rate for recent advanced 
degree recipients was 8.4 percent, little changed over the year.

Recent Associate Degree Recipients (Ages 20 to 29)

Of the 352,000 20- to 29-year-olds who completed an associate degree between January and October 2024, 
78.1 percent were employed in October 2024. The unemployment rate for recent associate degree recipients
was 2.1 percent. (See table 3.)

Recent associate degree recipients ages 20 to 29 were twice as likely to have completed an academic 
program (67.6 percent) than a vocational program (32.4 percent) in October 2024. Associate degrees in 
academic programs are primarily in the arts and sciences and are often transferable to a bachelor's 
degree program, while associate degrees in vocational programs prepare graduates for a specific 
occupation.

In October 2024, 42.3 percent of recent associate degree recipients were enrolled in school. Of the 
149,000 recent recipients who were enrolled in school, 71.0 percent were employed. By contrast, 83.3 
percent of the 202,000 recent associate degree recipients who were not enrolled in school were employed.

Technical Note

The estimates in this news release were obtained from a supplement to the October Current
Population Survey (CPS), a monthly survey of about 60,000 eligible households that
provides information on the labor force, employment, and unemployment for the nation.
The CPS is conducted monthly for the Bureau of Labor Statistics by the U.S. Census
Bureau. Data in this news release relate to the school enrollment status of people in
the civilian noninstitutional population in the calendar week that includes the 12th
of October. Data about recent high school graduates and dropouts and the enrollment
status of youth refer to people 16 to 24 years of age. Data about recent associate
degree recipients and college graduates refer to people 20 to 29 years of age.

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Definitions

Definitions of the principal terms used in this news release 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. People 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. 
People 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.

Recent high school graduates. People age 16 to 24 who completed high school in
the calendar year of the survey (January through October) are recent high school
graduates.

Recent high school dropouts. People age 16 to 24 who were not enrolled in 
school at the time of the survey, attended school a year earlier, and did not 
have a high school diploma are recent dropouts.

Recent college graduates. People age 20 to 29 who completed a bachelor's 
degree or an advanced degree--that is, a master's, professional (such as law or
medicine), or doctoral degree--in the calendar year of the survey (January 
through October) are recent college graduates. 

Recent associate degree recipients. People age 20 to 29 who completed an 
associate degree (either an academic program or a vocational program) in the 
calendar year of the survey (January through October) are recent associate 
degree recipients. Associate degrees in academic programs are primarily in the
arts and sciences and may be transferable to a bachelor's degree program, 
while associate degrees in vocational programs prepare graduates for a specific
occupation.

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 component of this difference that occurs because samples 
differ by chance is known as sampling error, and its 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.

Additional information about the reliability of data from the CPS and 
estimating standard errors is available at 
www.bls.gov/cps/documentation.htm#reliability.