Internet address: http://stats.bls.gov/newsrels.htm Technical information: (202) 691-6378 USDL 00-136 For release: 10:00 A.M. EDT Media contact: 691-5902 Wednesday, May 17, 2000 COLLEGE ENROLLMENT AND WORK ACTIVITY OF 1999 HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATES Sixty-three percent of the high school graduating class of 1999 was enrolled in colleges or universities in the fall, the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor reported today. The college enrollment rate was somewhat lower than a year earlier and was well below its October 1997 record high of 67.0 percent. The over-the-year decline was much sharper among young women than among young men. These data come from the Current Population Survey (CPS), a monthly nationwide survey of about 50,000 households conducted for BLS by the Census Bureau. 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 Among the 2.9 million youth who graduated from high school in 1999, about 1.8 million (62.9 percent) were enrolled in college the following fall. The college enrollment rate of young women, at 64.4 percent, con- tinued to exceed that of young men (61.4 percent). There were differences in enrollment status between the race and ethnic groups. About 62.8 per- cent of white high school graduates were enrolled in college the following fall, compared with 59.2 percent of blacks and just 42.2 percent of Hispanics. (See table 1.) Two-thirds of the 1999 college freshmen were enrolled in 4-year institutions, and nearly 40 percent participated in the labor force through either work or an active job search. In contrast, 63.5 percent of the youth enrolled in 2-year colleges were in the labor force. Only eight percent of the recent high school graduates who were enrolled in college attended school part time, but those who did were more than twice as likely to participate in the labor force (89.2 percent) as were full-time students (42.7 percent). The labor force participation rate for high school graduates who did not enroll in college was 84.2 percent in October 1999. In line with improvements in the economy, their employment-population ratio--that is, the proportion of their population with jobs--rose from 64.4 percent to 69.4 percent between October 1998 and 1999. High school dropouts have always experienced greater labor market difficulties than persons with higher levels of education. Of the 524,000 youth who had dropped out of high school over the year ended October 1999, 57.3 percent were in the labor force. Their unemployment rate of 26.1 percent was 8.6 percentage points higher than the rate for the year's high school graduates who did not go on to college. Among high school dropouts, men were more likely than women to participate in the labor force (66.8 versus 49.2 percent). - 2 - Youth Enrolled in School Over half of the nation's 32.4 million 16- to 24-year-olds were enrolled in school in October 1999. Nearly 9 million were in high school and 9.4 million were in college (including 1999 high school graduates who were enrolled in college). Among high school students, 41.2 percent were in the labor force, and their unemployment rate was 13.8 percent. For college students, labor force participation rates varied greatly between full- and part-time students. In October 1999, of the 85 percent who attended school on a full-time basis, 53 percent were labor force participants. In contrast, 87 percent of the part-time students were labor force participants. The unemployment rates for both full-time and part- time college students (5.6 percent and 5.8 percent, respectively) were far lower than the rate for high school students (13.8 percent). Among both high school and college students, unemployment rates were much higher for blacks and Hispanics than for whites. (See table 2.) Out-of-School Youth Four out of five of the 16- to 24-year-olds not enrolled in school were in the labor force in October 1999. Labor force participation rates for men were considerably higher than for women in this group (89.6 versus 74.2 percent). This disparity in labor force activity between young men and women is largest among those who had not completed high school and nearly disappears among college graduates. Black and Hispanic out-of- school youth had lower labor force participation rates than whites. Also, the unemployment rate among black youth (20.4 percent) was double the rate for Hispanic youth (10.1 percent) and 2 1/2 times the rate for white youth (7.9 percent). (See table 2.) Technical Note The estimates in this release were obtained from a supplement to the October 1999 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 U.S. Census Bureau. 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: 202-691-5200; 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. 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 1999 high school graduates and 1998-99 high school dropouts 16 to 24 years old by school enrollment, sex, race, and Hispanic origin, October 1999 (Numbers in thousands) Civilian labor force Civilian Not in Characteristic noninsti- Percent Employed Unemployed labor tutional of force population Total popula- tion Total Percent of Number Rate population Total, 1999 high school graduates... 2,897 1,749 60.4 1,536 53.0 213 12.2 1,148 Men............................... 1,474 928 62.9 821 55.7 107 11.5 546 Women............................. 1,423 821 57.7 715 50.3 106 12.9 602 White............................. 2,287 1,434 62.7 1,282 56.0 152 10.6 853 Black............................. 453 235 51.8 185 40.8 50 21.3 218 Hispanic origin................... 329 217 66.2 158 47.9 60 27.5 111 Enrolled in college............... 1,822 845 46.4 790 43.3 55 6.5 977 Enrolled in 2-year college...... 609 387 63.5 366 60.0 21 5.5 222 Enrolled in 4-year college...... 1,213 458 37.8 424 35.0 34 7.4 755 Full-time students.............. 1,677 715 42.7 671 40.0 44 6.1 962 Part-time students.............. 145 129 89.2 118 81.6 11 8.5 16 Men............................. 905 427 47.1 400 44.2 26 6.2 479 Women........................... 917 418 45.6 389 42.5 29 6.8 499 White........................... 1,437 706 49.2 668 46.5 38 5.4 730 Black........................... 268 87 32.4 75 27.9 12 13.9 181 Hispanic origin................. 139 61 43.6 45 32.5 15 (1) 78 Not enrolled in college........... 1,075 904 84.2 746 69.4 158 17.5 170 Men............................. 568 501 88.1 420 73.9 81 16.1 67 Women........................... 506 403 79.7 326 64.4 78 19.2 103 White........................... 851 728 85.6 614 72.2 114 15.6 123 Black........................... 185 148 80.0 110 59.5 38 25.6 37 Hispanic origin................. 190 157 82.7 112 59.3 44 28.3 33 Total, 1998-99 high school dropouts(2)...................... 524 300 57.3 222 42.4 78 26.1 224 Men............................... 243 162 66.8 120 49.5 42 25.8 81 Women............................. 282 139 49.2 102 36.2 37 26.4 143 White............................. 377 227 60.3 174 46.1 54 23.6 150 Black............................. 118 59 50.0 39 33.0 20 (1) 59 Hispanic origin................... 119 85 71.4 75 62.8 10 12.0 34 1 Data not shown where base is less than 75,000. 2 Data refer to persons who dropped out of school between October 1998 and October 1999. 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. Data reflect revised population controls used in the Current Population Survey effective with January 1999 estimates. Table 2. Labor force status of persons 16 to 24 years old by school enrollment, educational attainment, sex, race, and Hispanic origin, October 1999 (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.......... 34,173 22,135 64.8 20,044 58.7 2,091 9.4 12,038 Enrolled in school................. 18,371 9,199 50.1 8,380 45.6 819 8.9 9,172 Enrolled in high school(1)....... 8,971 3,696 41.2 3,186 35.5 510 13.8 5,275 Men............................ 4,746 1,963 41.4 1,687 35.6 276 14.1 2,783 Women.......................... 4,225 1,733 41.0 1,498 35.5 234 13.5 2,492 White.......................... 6,990 3,153 45.1 2,765 39.6 388 12.3 3,837 Black.......................... 1,470 391 26.6 276 18.8 115 29.3 1,079 Hispanic origin................ 1,256 398 31.6 292 23.2 106 26.6 859 Enrolled in college.............. 9,400 5,503 58.5 5,194 55.3 309 5.6 3,897 Enrolled in 2-year college..... 2,405 1,673 69.6 1,578 65.6 95 5.7 732 Enrolled in 4-year college..... 6,995 3,829 54.7 3,616 51.7 213 5.6 3,165 Full-time students............. 7,976 4,258 53.4 4,022 50.4 236 5.6 3,718 Part-time students............. 1,424 1,245 87.4 1,172 82.3 72 5.8 179 Men............................ 4,471 2,553 57.1 2,377 53.2 176 6.9 1,918 Women.......................... 4,929 2,950 59.8 2,817 57.1 133 4.5 1,979 White.......................... 7,533 4,609 61.2 4,401 58.4 208 4.5 2,924 Black.......................... 1,183 572 48.3 499 42.2 72 12.7 612 Hispanic origin................ 747 446 59.8 398 53.3 48 10.8 301 Not enrolled in school............. 15,801 12,936 81.9 11,664 73.8 1,272 9.8 2,865 16 to 19 years................... 3,671 2,736 74.5 2,261 61.6 475 17.4 935 20 to 24 years................... 12,130 10,200 84.1 9,403 77.5 797 7.8 1,930 Men.............................. 7,889 7,065 89.6 6,382 80.9 683 9.7 824 Less than a high school diploma 2,032 1,646 81.0 1,435 70.6 211 12.8 387 High school graduates, no college......................... 3,667 3,341 91.1 3,013 82.2 328 9.8 327 Less than a bachelor's degree.. 1,585 1,500 94.7 1,396 88.1 104 7.0 85 College graduates.............. 605 579 95.6 538 88.9 41 7.0 26 Women............................ 7,912 5,871 74.2 5,282 66.8 589 10.0 2,041 Less than a high school diploma 1,797 865 48.1 694 38.6 171 19.8 932 High school graduates, no college......................... 3,332 2,593 77.8 2,318 69.6 275 10.6 739 Less than a bachelor's degree.. 1,814 1,519 83.7 1,428 78.7 91 6.0 295 College graduates.............. 970 895 92.3 843 86.9 52 5.8 75 White............................ 12,700 10,593 83.4 9,757 76.8 836 7.9 2,108 Black............................ 2,463 1,865 75.7 1,485 60.3 380 20.4 598 Hispanic origin.................. 3,057 2,308 75.5 2,074 67.8 234 10.1 749 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. Data reflect revised population controls used in the Current Population Survey effective with January 1999 estimates.