College Enrollment and Work Activity of High School Graduates News Release

For release 10:00 a.m. (ET) Tuesday, April 23, 2024                               USDL-24-0742

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 -- 2023


In October 2023, 61.4 percent of 2023 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 2023,
70.2 percent were employed, down from 76.4 percent 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 2023 data:

 --Among recent high school graduates ages 16 to 24, 57.6 percent of men and 65.3 percent of
   women were enrolled in college. (See table 1.)

 --Among 16- to 24-year-olds, 43.7 percent of recent high school dropouts were working or
   looking for work, lower than the labor force participation rate of 71.7 percent for recent
   high school graduates not enrolled in college. (See table 1.)

 --There were 18.0 million people ages 16 to 24 who were not enrolled in school--45.6 percent
   of all people in this age group. (See table 2.)

 --Among 20- to 29-year-olds, 61.0 percent of recent associate degree recipients, 70.2 percent
   of recent bachelor's degree recipients, and 84.5 percent of recent advanced degree 
   recipients were employed. (See table 3.)

 --Twenty-six percent of recent bachelor's degree recipients ages 20 to 29 were enrolled in
   school. (See table 3.)

 --Among 20- to 29-year-olds, unemployment rates were 6.8 percent for recent associate degree
   recipients, 12.3 percent for recent bachelor's degree recipients, and 6.8 percent for
   recent advanced degree recipients. (See table 3.) 

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

Of the 3.1 million youth ages 16 to 24 who graduated from high school between January and
October 2023, 1.9 million were enrolled in college in October. The college enrollment rate of
recent high school graduates, at 61.4 percent in October 2023, was little different from the
rate of 62.0 percent in October 2022. (See table 1.)

Among 2023 high school graduates ages 16 to 24, the college enrollment rate for young women,
at 65.3 percent in October 2023, continued to be higher than the rate for young men (57.6 
percent). By race and ethnicity, the college enrollment rates in October 2023 were 84.7
percent for Asians, 59.9 percent for Whites, 59.6 percent for Blacks, and 51.8 percent for
Hispanics. 

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 2023 was
32.4 percent. The participation rates for male and female graduates enrolled in college were
31.4 percent and 33.2 percent, respectively.

Among recent high school graduates enrolled in college in October 2023, about 9 in 10 were
full-time students. Recent graduates enrolled as full-time students were less likely to be in
the labor force (29.6 percent) than were their peers enrolled part time (68.9 percent).

Among recent high school graduates enrolled in college, 3 out of 4 attended 4-year colleges
in October 2023. Of these students, 26.1 percent participated in the labor force, about half
the rate of recent graduates enrolled in 2-year colleges (50.8 percent).

Recent high school graduates not enrolled in college in October 2023 were more than twice as
likely to be in the labor force as graduates enrolled in college (71.7 percent versus 32.4
percent). For both groups, labor force participation was little changed from the previous year. 
The unemployment rate was 12.9 percent for recent graduates enrolled in college and 17.8 percent 
for recent high school graduates not enrolled in college.

Between October 2022 and October 2023, 614,000 young people dropped out of high school. The
labor force participation rate for recent dropouts (43.7 percent) continued to be much lower
than the rate for recent high school graduates not enrolled in college (71.7 percent). The
unemployment rate for recent high school dropouts was 23.5 percent, nearly double the rate
for recent graduates enrolled in college (12.9 percent).

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

In October 2023, 21.4 million 16- to 24-year-olds, or 54.4 percent of youth, were enrolled
in high school (9.5 million) or in college (11.9 million). The labor force participation rate
for youth enrolled in school, at 37.3 percent, was little changed from October 2022 to October
2023. The unemployment rate for youth enrolled in school edged up to 7.4 percent from the
previous year. (See table 2.)

In October 2023, high school students continued to be less likely than college students to
participate in the labor force (25.7 percent versus 46.7 percent). The participation rates for
male and female high school students were 24.6 percent and 26.8 percent, respectively.

Among college students, those enrolled full time were much less likely to participate in the
labor force in October 2023 than were part-time students (41.7 percent versus 82.7 percent).
Students at 4-year colleges were also less likely to be in the labor force than were students
at 2-year colleges (43.7 percent and 57.6 percent, respectively). Female college students'
participation rate was higher than the rate for male college students (51.4 percent, compared
with 40.9 percent). By race and ethnicity, the labor force participation rate was lower for
Asian college students (32.9 percent) than for their Black (43.9 percent), White (48.9
percent), and Hispanic (50.6 percent) counterparts. 

In October 2023, the unemployment rate for high school students increased by 4.9 percentage
points over the year, to 12.4 percent, while the rate for college students, at 5.2 percent,
was little changed.

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

In October 2023, 18.0 million people ages 16 to 24 were not enrolled in school. The labor
force participation rate of youth not enrolled in school was 79.4 percent. Among youth not
enrolled in school in October 2023, young men continued to be more likely than young women to
participate in the labor force (81.6 percent, compared with 76.9 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 (92.2 percent and 91.0 percent,
respectively) and lowest for young men and young women with less than a high school diploma
(69.0 percent and 54.6 percent, respectively). 

The unemployment rate for youth ages 16 to 24 not enrolled in school, at 9.2 percent in
October 2023, changed little over the year. Among those not-enrolled youth who did not have a
high school diploma, unemployment rates were 14.0 percent for young men and 13.7 percent for
young women. The jobless rates of young men and young women with at least a bachelor's degree
were 7.4 percent and 7.1 percent, respectively. Among youth not enrolled in school, the 
unemployment rates were 14.0 percent for Blacks, 10.1 percent for Hispanics, 7.9 percent for
Whites, and 6.7 percent for Asians.

Recent College Graduates (Ages 20 to 29)

Between January and October 2023, 1.1 million 20- to 29-year-olds earned a bachelor's degree;
of these, 757,000 (or 70.2 percent) were employed in October 2023. Among recent bachelor's
degree recipients, 75.2 percent of men were employed, compared with 66.8 percent of women. The
unemployment rate for recent college graduates with a bachelor's degree, at 12.3 percent,
increased by 3.7 percentage points from the previous year. In October 2023, the jobless rate
for female bachelor's degree recipients increased to 14.8 percent over the year, while the
rate for male bachelor's degree recipients (8.8 percent) was little changed. (See table 3.)

Twenty-six percent of bachelor's degree recipients were enrolled in school in October 2023.
These recent graduates who were enrolled in school were less likely to be employed than those
who were not enrolled (44.0 percent versus 79.2 percent).

Between January and October 2023, 403,000 people ages 20 to 29 earned an advanced degree--that
is, a master's, professional, or doctoral degree. Among these recent graduates, 84.5 percent
were employed in October 2023. The unemployment rate for recent advanced degree recipients was
6.8 percent.

Recent Associate Degree Recipients (Ages 20 to 29)

Of the 299,000 20- to 29-year-olds who completed an associate degree between January and
October 2023, 61.0 percent were employed in October 2023. The unemployment rate for recent 
associate degree recipients was 6.8 percent. (See table 3.)

Recent associate degree recipients ages 20 to 29 were much more likely to have completed an
academic program (74.2 percent) than a vocational program (25.8 percent) in October 2023.
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 2023, 44.1 percent of recent associate degree recipients were enrolled in school.
Of the 132,000 recent recipients who were enrolled in school, 46.1 percent were employed. By
contrast, 72.7 percent of the 167,000 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.