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62.7 percent of 2020 high school graduates enrolled in college, down from 66.2 percent in 2019

April 30, 2021

In October 2020, 62.7 percent of the 3.1 million youth ages 16 to 24 who graduated from high school between January and October were enrolled in colleges or universities, down from 66.2 percent in October 2019. This decrease reflects the effect of the COVID–19 pandemic.

Percent of 2019 and 2020 high school graduates ages 16 to 24 who were enrolled in college in October of the year they graduated, by sex, race, and Hispanic or Latino ethnicity
Characteristic 2020 2019

Total, enrolled in college

62.7% 66.2%

Men

59.3 62.0

Women

66.2 69.8

White

62.9 66.9

Black or African American

56.6 50.7

Asian

83.2 89.9

Hispanic or Latino ethnicity

56.2 63.4

Among 2020 high school graduates ages 16 to 24, the college enrollment rate for young women, at 66.2 percent in October 2020, continued to be higher than the rate for young men (59.3 percent). The college enrollment rate of Asians (83.2 percent) also continued to be higher than the rates for recent White (62.9 percent), Black (56.6 percent), and Hispanic (56.2 percent) graduates.

These data are from the Current Population Survey. For more information, see “College Enrollment and Work Activity of Recent High School and College Graduates — 2020.” People whose ethnicity is Hispanic or Latino may be of any race.

SUGGESTED CITATION

Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, The Economics Daily, 62.7 percent of 2020 high school graduates enrolled in college, down from 66.2 percent in 2019 at https://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/2021/62-7-percent-of-2020-high-school-graduates-enrolled-in-college-down-from-66-2-percent-in-2019.htm (visited December 12, 2024).

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