For release 10:00 a.m. (EDT) Tuesday, April 27, 2010 USDL-10-0533
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
2009 HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATES
In October 2009, 70.1 percent of 2009 high school graduates were enrolled in
colleges or universities, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today.
This was a historical high for the series, which began in 1959. Recent high
school graduates not enrolled in college in October 2009 were more likely than
enrolled graduates to be in the labor force (70.0 compared with 42.1 percent).
Information on school enrollment and work activity 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 sup-
plement to the CPS gathers more detailed information on full-time and part-time
school enrollment status, level of education, and enrollment status a year ear-
lier. Additional information about the October supplement is included in the
Technical Note.
Recent High School Graduates and Dropouts
Of the 2.9 million youth age 16 to 24 who graduated from high school in January
through October 2009, 2.1 million (70.1 percent) were enrolled in college in
October 2009. The college enrollment rate of recent high school graduates has
been trending up; in October 2008, 68.6 percent of recent high school graduates
were enrolled in college. For 2009 graduates, the college enrollment rate was
73.8 percent for young women and 66.0 percent for young men. The college en-
rollment rate of 2009 Asian graduates (92.2 percent) was higher than for recent
white (69.2 percent), black (68.7 percent), and Hispanic (59.3 percent) grad-
uates. (See table 1.)
The labor force participation rate (the proportion of the population working or
looking for work) for recent high school graduates enrolled in college was 42.1
percent. The participation rates for male and female graduates enrolled in col-
lege were about the same (40.8 percent and 43.2 percent, respectively).
Among recent high school graduates enrolled in college in October 2009, 91.6 per-
cent were full-time students. Recent graduates enrolled as full-time students
were about half as likely to be in the labor force (38.7 percent) than their
peers enrolled part time (79.3 percent).
About 6 in 10 recent high school graduates who were enrolled in college attended
4-year institutions. Of these students, 30.9 percent participated in the labor
force, compared with 59.2 percent of recent graduates enrolled in 2-year col-
leges. Recent high school graduates not enrolled in college in the fall of 2009
were more likely than enrolled graduates to be in the labor force (70.0 compared
with 42.1 percent). The unemployment rate for recent high school graduates not
enrolled in school was 35.0 percent, compared with 23.7 percent for graduates
enrolled in college.
Between October 2008 and October 2009, 383,000 young people dropped out of high
school. The labor force participation rate for recent dropouts (48.5 percent)
was lower than for recent high school graduates not enrolled in college (70.0
percent). The jobless rate for recent high school dropouts was 55.1 percent,
compared with 35.0 percent for high school graduates not enrolled in college.
All Youth Enrolled in High School or College
In October 2009, 58.1 percent of the nation's 16- to 24-year-olds, or 21.9 mil-
lion young people, either were enrolled in high school (9.6 million) or in col-
lege (12.2 million). The labor force participation rate of youth enrolled in
school fell from 42.0 to 38.5 percent from October 2008 to October 2009, and
the unemployment rate rose from 11.9 to 15.6 percent. (See table 2.)
In October 2009, college students continued to be more likely to participate in
the labor force than high school students (51.4 compared with 22.1 percent).
About 87 percent of college students were enrolled full time. Those attending
full time had much lower labor force participation rates than part-time students.
Female college students were more likely to be in the labor force (54.8 percent)
than their male counterparts (47.4 percent).
The unemployment rate for high school students, at 25.8 percent in October 2009,
was about twice the rate for college students (12.2 percent). Unemployment rates
for black (46.9 percent) and Hispanic (40.4 percent) high school students con-
tinued to be higher than for white students (22.6 percent).
All Youth Not Enrolled in School
In October 2009, 15.8 million persons age 16 to 24 were not enrolled in school.
The labor force participation rate of youth not enrolled in school fell from
79.9 percent in October 2008 to 78.4 percent in October 2009. Among youth not
enrolled in school in October 2009, men continued to be more likely than women
to participate in the labor force--83.8 compared with 72.3 percent. Labor force
participation rates for not-enrolled men and women were highest for college grad-
uates and lowest for those with less than a high school diploma. (See table 2.)
The unemployment rate for not-enrolled youth age 16 to 24 rose from 14.2 percent
in October 2008 to 20.3 percent in October 2009. Among the educational attainment
categories, unemployment rates for youth not in school were highest for those
without a high school diploma--31.8 percent for young men and 31.0 percent for
young women in October 2009. In contrast, the jobless rates for young male and
female college graduates were 13.6 and 6.5 percent, respectively. Black youth
not enrolled in school had an unemployment rate of 33.0 percent in October 2009,
higher than the rates for their white (17.9 percent), Asian (20.0 percent), and
Hispanic (23.1 percent) counterparts.
Technical Note
The estimates in this release were obtained from a supplement to the
October 2009 Current Population Survey (CPS), a monthly survey of about
60,000 households that 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 in
this release 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 October. Updated population controls for
the Current Population Survey are introduced annually with the release of
January data. Additional information about population controls is avail-
able on the BLS Web site at www.bls.gov/cps/documentation.htm#pop.
Information in this release will be made available to sensory impaired
individuals upon request. Voice phone: (202) 691-5200; Federal Relay Ser-
vice: (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 de-
pending 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 infor-
mation, and errors made in the collection or processing of the data.
A full discussion of the reliability of data from the CPS and information
on estimating standard errors is available at www.bls.gov/cps/documentation.
htm#reliability.
Concepts
The principal concepts used in connection with the school enrollment ser-
ies are described briefly below.
School enrollment. Respondents were asked whether they were currently en-
rolled in a regular school, including day or night school in any type of pub-
lic, 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 se-
nior 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 clas-
sified 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 edu-
cation. 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.
Recent high school graduates. Persons who completed high school in the
calendar year of the survey (January through October) are recent high school
graduates.
Recent high school dropouts. Persons 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.
Table 1. Labor force status of 2009 high school graduates and 2008-09 high school dropouts 16 to 24 years old by school enrollment,
educational attainment, sex, race, and Hispanic or Latino ethnicity, October 2009
(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, 2009 high school graduates (1)... 2,937 1,482 50.5 1,062 36.1 421 28.4 1,455
Men.................................... 1,407 724 51.5 513 36.5 211 29.1 683
Women.................................. 1,531 758 49.5 549 35.8 210 27.7 772
White.................................. 2,281 1,204 52.8 894 39.2 310 25.8 1,077
Black or African American.............. 425 174 41.0 102 24.0 72 41.3 251
Asian.................................. 115 42 36.7 28 24.0 15 (2) 73
Hispanic or Latino ethnicity........... 459 215 46.9 146 31.9 69 31.9 243
Enrolled in college.................... 2,058 867 42.1 662 32.1 205 23.7 1,192
Enrolled in 2-year college............ 813 482 59.2 357 43.9 125 25.9 332
Enrolled in 4-year college............ 1,245 385 30.9 305 24.5 80 20.8 860
Full-time students.................... 1,885 729 38.7 558 29.6 172 23.5 1,156
Part-time students.................... 173 137 79.3 104 60.1 33 24.2 36
Men................................... 928 379 40.8 294 31.7 84 22.2 550
Women................................. 1,130 488 43.2 367 32.5 121 24.8 642
White................................. 1,579 689 43.6 540 34.2 148 21.5 890
Black or African American............. 292 99 33.8 68 23.3 31 31.0 193
Asian................................. 106 37 35.1 25 24.0 12 (2) 69
Hispanic or Latino ethnicity.......... 272 106 39.0 81 29.9 25 23.2 166
Not enrolled in college................ 879 616 70.0 400 45.5 216 35.0 263
Men................................... 478 345 72.2 219 45.7 127 36.7 133
Women................................. 401 270 67.4 181 45.2 89 32.9 130
White................................. 702 516 73.4 354 50.4 162 31.4 187
Black or African American............. 133 75 56.6 34 25.6 41 54.8 58
Asian................................. 9 5 (2) 2 (2) 3 (2) 4
Hispanic or Latino ethnicity.......... 186 109 58.5 65 34.9 44 40.4 77
Total, 2008-09 high school dropouts (3) 383 186 48.5 83 21.8 103 55.1 198
Men.................................... 205 125 60.9 56 27.5 69 54.9 80
Women.................................. 179 61 34.2 27 15.2 34 (2) 117
White.................................. 276 147 53.4 76 27.4 72 48.7 129
Black or African American.............. 80 33 41.6 4 4.8 30 (2) 47
Asian.................................. 5 1 (2) 1 (2) - - 4
Hispanic or Latino ethnicity........... 115 52 45.1 20 17.2 32 (2) 63
1 Data refer to persons who graduated from high school in January through October 2009.
2 Data not shown where base is less than 75,000.
3 Data refer to persons who dropped out of school between October 2008 and October 2009.
NOTE: Detail for the above race groups (white, black or African American, and Asian) do not sum to totals because data are not pre-
sented for all races. Persons whose ethnicity is identified as Hispanic or Latino may be of any race. Because of rounding, sums of indi-
vidual items may not equal totals. Updated population controls are introduced annually with the release of January data. Dash represents
or rounds to zero.
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 2009
(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................... 37,616 20,764 55.2 16,945 45.0 3,820 18.4 16,851
Enrolled in school..................... 21,854 8,411 38.5 7,098 32.5 1,314 15.6 13,443
Enrolled in high school (1)........... 9,612 2,125 22.1 1,576 16.4 548 25.8 7,488
Men.................................. 4,965 1,055 21.3 760 15.3 295 28.0 3,910
Women................................ 4,647 1,069 23.0 817 17.6 253 23.6 3,578
White................................ 7,225 1,757 24.3 1,359 18.8 398 22.6 5,468
Black or African American............ 1,608 266 16.5 141 8.8 125 46.9 1,342
Asian................................ 335 30 8.9 21 6.3 9 (2) 305
Hispanic or Latino ethnicity......... 1,805 314 17.4 187 10.4 127 40.4 1,491
Enrolled in college................... 12,242 6,287 51.4 5,521 45.1 766 12.2 5,955
Enrolled in 2-year college........... 3,512 2,129 60.6 1,772 50.4 358 16.8 1,383
Enrolled in 4-year college........... 8,729 4,158 47.6 3,750 43.0 408 9.8 4,571
Full-time students................... 10,680 4,967 46.5 4,331 40.6 635 12.8 5,713
Part-time students................... 1,562 1,320 84.5 1,190 76.2 130 9.9 242
Men.................................. 5,710 2,707 47.4 2,286 40.0 421 15.5 3,003
Women................................ 6,531 3,579 54.8 3,235 49.5 345 9.6 2,952
White................................ 9,461 5,145 54.4 4,569 48.3 576 11.2 4,316
Black or African American............ 1,630 680 41.7 562 34.5 119 17.4 949
Asian................................ 777 254 32.8 229 29.5 25 9.9 522
Hispanic or Latino ethnicity......... 1,501 792 52.8 690 46.0 102 12.9 709
Not enrolled in school................. 15,762 12,353 78.4 9,847 62.5 2,506 20.3 3,409
16 to 19 years........................ 3,134 2,067 65.9 1,357 43.3 710 34.4 1,068
20 to 24 years........................ 12,627 10,286 81.5 8,491 67.2 1,796 17.5 2,341
Men................................... 8,274 6,937 83.8 5,341 64.6 1,596 23.0 1,337
Less than a high school diploma...... 1,731 1,267 73.2 864 49.9 403 31.8 464
High school graduates, no college (3) 3,870 3,193 82.5 2,400 62.0 793 24.8 677
Some college or associate degree..... 1,784 1,610 90.3 1,328 74.5 282 17.5 174
Bachelor's degree and higher (4)..... 890 867 97.4 749 84.1 118 13.6 23
Women................................. 7,488 5,416 72.3 4,506 60.2 910 16.8 2,072
Less than a high school diploma...... 1,299 644 49.6 444 34.2 200 31.0 655
High school graduates, no college(3) 3,125 2,147 68.7 1,671 53.5 476 22.2 978
Some college or associate degree..... 1,894 1,539 81.2 1,374 72.6 164 10.7 356
Bachelor's degree and higher (4)..... 1,170 1,087 92.9 1,017 86.9 70 6.5 83
White................................. 12,330 9,913 80.4 8,140 66.0 1,773 17.9 2,417
Black or African American............. 2,438 1,679 68.9 1,126 46.2 553 33.0 759
Asian................................. 348 280 80.5 224 64.4 56 20.0 68
Hispanic or Latino ethnicity.......... 3,503 2,631 75.1 2,023 57.7 608 23.1 872
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 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 pre-
sented for all races. Persons whose ethnicity is identified as Hispanic or Latino may be of any race. Because of rounding, sums of indi-
vidual items may not equal totals. Updated population controls are introduced annually with the release of January data.
United States Department of Labor
