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Internet address: http://stats.bls.gov/newsrels.htm
Technical information: (202) 606-6378 USDL 98-171
For release: 10:00 A.M. EDT
Media contact: 606-5902 Friday, May 1, 1998
COLLEGE ENROLLMENT AND WORK ACTIVITY OF 1997 HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATES
Sixty-seven percent of 1997 high school graduates were enrolled in
colleges or universities in the fall, the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the
U. S. Department of Labor reported today. This proportion has risen by 5
percentage points over the last 2 years, after remaining steady from 1992-95
at about 62 percent. The college enrollment proportion rose to 65
percent in the fall of 1996.
This information is from a supplement to the October 1997 Current
Population Survey (CPS), a monthly nationwide survey of about 50,000
households that provides the basic data on national employment and
unemployment. Each October, the CPS includes additional questions on the
school enrollment and high school graduation status of persons 16 to 24
years of age. For additional information, see the Technical Note. Some of
the highlights from the October 1997 survey are:
--Young female high school graduates continued to be more likely than
their male counterparts to enter colleges or universities--70.3 percent
compared with 63.5 percent.
--Among out-of-school youth, the unemployment rate for those who had
not graduated from high school was 19.8 percent, compared with 11.1 percent
for those with a high school diploma (no college) and 2.1 percent for
college-degree holders.
Recent High School Graduates and Dropouts
Of the 2.8 million youth who graduated from high school in 1997, 1.9
million (67.0 percent) were attending college in October. Both white and
Hispanic graduates were more likely to be enrolled in college (67.5 and
65.5 percent, respectively) than were blacks (59.6 percent). (See table 1.)
Two-thirds of the new college students were enrolled in 4-year
institutions, and 37.1 percent of them were labor force participants, that
is, they were either working or looking for work. The remaining one-third
attended 2-year colleges, and 63.2 percent of them were in the labor force.
Part-time college students, including those in 2-year as well as 4-year
institutions, were twice as likely to participate in the labor force as
their full-time counterparts (84.6 and 41.9 percent, respectively).
Four out of five recent high school graduates not enrolled in college
were in the labor force, about the same proportion as the graduates
attending college part time. The unemployment rate of the non-students,
however, was twice that of the part-time college students (17.1 compared
with 8.3 percent). The unemployment rate for full-time students was 12.7
percent.
- 2 -
Over the 12 months ended in October 1997, some half a million young
persons dropped out of high school, about the same number as in the 12-
month period that ended in October 1996. The labor force participation
rate of high school dropouts (60.2 percent) was considerably below that of
high school graduates not enrolled in college.
Also, the unemployment rate for the dropouts, 25.4 percent, was 8.3
percentage points higher than for high school graduates not enrolled in
college.
Youth Enrolled in School
Of the 33 million persons age 16 to 24 in October 1997, 18.1 million
were enrolled in school, including almost 9.4 million in college and nearly
8.8 million in high school and below. A little over 4 out of 5 of the
college students were enrolled full time, 51.6 percent of whom were labor
force participants. In contrast, of those who were enrolled part time,
88.0 percent were in the labor force. The jobless rate for full-time
college students was 7.5 percent, compared with 4.0 percent for part-time
students. About 40 percent of those enrolled in high school or below were
in the labor force, and their unemployment rate was 15.2 percent. (See
table 2.)
Out-of-School Youth
A total of 14.8 million 16- to 24-year-olds were not enrolled in
school in October 1997. This is a rather disparate group, ranging from
high school dropouts to college graduates. Both labor force participation
and unemployment among these young persons were closely associated with
their educational attainment. For example, 93.6 percent of the young women
and 96.6 percent of the men who had graduated from college were in the
labor force, and their unemployment rates were only around 2 percent. In
contrast, only half of the young women and about 4 out of 5 of the men who
were high school dropouts were in the job market, and their jobless rates
were 10 times as high as those for young college graduates. (See table 2.)
Technical Note
The estimates in this release were obtained from a
supplement to the October 1997 Current Population Survey
(CPS), a monthly survey of about 50,000 households, which
provides the basic information on the labor force,
employment, and unemployment for the nation. The survey is
conducted monthly for the Bureau of Labor Statistics by the
Bureau of the Census. Data relate to the school enrollment
status of persons 16 to 24 years of age in the civilian
noninstitutional population in the calendar week ended
October 18, 1997.
Information in this release will be made available to
sensory impaired individuals upon request. Voice phone:
202-606-STAT; TDD phone: 202-606-5897; TDD message referral
phone number: 1-800-326-2577.
Reliability
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 the
February 1994 and subsequent issues 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 enrolled in a regular school at any time during the
current term or school year, 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 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 1997 high school graduates and 1996-97 high school dropouts 16 to 24 years old
by school enrollment, sex, race, and Hispanic origin, October 1997
(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, 1997 high school graduates... 2,769 1,590 57.4 1,362 49.2 228 14.3 1,179
Men............................... 1,354 793 58.6 675 49.8 118 14.9 561
Women............................. 1,415 798 56.4 688 48.6 110 13.8 618
White............................. 2,228 1,337 60.0 1,168 52.4 169 12.6 891
Black............................. 394 193 49.0 140 35.5 53 27.6 201
Hispanic origin................... 336 188 56.0 141 41.9 47 25.1 148
Enrolled in college............... 1,856 853 46.0 751 40.5 102 11.9 1,003
Enrolled in 2-year college...... 630 398 63.2 346 54.9 52 13.1 232
Enrolled in 4-year college...... 1,225 454 37.1 405 33.1 49 10.8 771
Full-time students.............. 1,680 704 41.9 615 36.6 89 12.7 976
Part-time students.............. 176 149 84.6 137 77.6 12 8.3 27
Men............................. 860 364 42.3 311 36.2 52 14.4 497
Women........................... 995 489 49.1 440 44.2 49 10.1 506
White........................... 1,504 744 49.5 659 43.8 85 11.4 760
Black........................... 235 70 29.9 55 23.4 15 (1) 165
Hispanic origin................. 220 101 45.8 80 36.5 21 20.4 119
Not enrolled in college........... 913 738 80.7 611 66.9 126 17.1 176
Men............................. 493 429 86.9 363 73.7 66 15.3 64
Women........................... 420 309 73.5 248 59.0 61 19.7 111
White........................... 724 593 81.9 509 70.3 84 14.1 131
Black........................... 159 123 77.2 85 53.3 38 31.0 36
Hispanic origin................. 116 87 75.4 60 52.3 27 30.7 28
Total, 1996-97 high school
dropouts(2)...................... 502 302 60.2 225 44.9 77 25.4 200
Men............................... 289 207 71.8 165 57.2 42 20.3 81
Women............................. 213 95 44.4 60 28.1 35 36.6 119
White............................. 386 250 64.8 199 51.5 51 20.5 136
Black............................. 90 41 45.1 18 20.4 22 (1) 49
Hispanic origin................... 121 88 73.1 73 60.4 15 17.4 32
1 Data not shown where base is less than 75,000.
2 Data refer to persons who dropped out of school between October 1995 and October 1996.
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.
Table 2. Labor force status of persons 16 to 24 years old by school enrollment, educational attainment, sex,
race, and Hispanic origin, October 1997
(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.......... 32,965 20,993 63.7 18,810 57.1 2,183 10.4 11,972
Enrolled in school................. 18,140 8,841 48.7 7,957 43.9 884 10.0 9,299
Enrolled in high school(1)....... 8,768 3,469 39.6 2,940 33.5 528 15.2 5,299
Men............................ 4,625 1,885 40.8 1,596 34.5 289 15.3 2,740
Women.......................... 4,143 1,584 38.2 1,344 32.5 240 15.1 2,559
White.......................... 6,756 2,951 43.7 2,575 38.1 376 12.7 3,805
Black.......................... 1,511 406 26.9 278 18.4 128 31.6 1,105
Hispanic origin................ 1,181 327 27.7 252 21.3 76 23.1 854
Enrolled in college.............. 9,373 5,372 57.3 5,016 53.5 356 6.6 4,000
Enrolled in 2-year college..... 2,541 1,768 69.6 1,615 63.5 153 8.7 773
Enrolled in 4-year college..... 6,832 3,604 52.8 3,402 49.8 203 5.6 3,228
Full-time students............. 7,906 4,083 51.6 3,778 47.8 304 7.5 3,824
Part-time students............. 1,466 1,290 88.0 1,238 84.4 52 4.0 177
Men............................ 4,434 2,401 54.2 2,179 49.1 222 9.3 2,033
Women.......................... 4,939 2,971 60.2 2,837 57.5 133 4.5 1,968
White.......................... 7,620 4,568 59.9 4,287 56.3 281 6.1 3,052
Black.......................... 1,109 519 46.8 455 41.0 64 12.4 590
Hispanic origin................ 852 506 59.3 467 54.8 39 7.6 346
Not enrolled in school............. 14,825 12,152 82.0 10,853 73.2 1,299 10.7 2,673
16 to 19 years................... 3,347 2,431 72.6 2,004 59.9 427 17.6 916
20 to 24 years................... 11,478 9,721 84.7 8,849 77.1 871 9.0 1,757
Men.............................. 7,562 6,726 89.0 5,997 79.3 729 10.8 835
Less than a high school diploma 1,970 1,561 79.3 1,283 65.1 278 17.8 409
High school graduates, no
college......................... 3,493 3,193 91.4 2,847 81.5 346 10.8 299
Less than a bachelor's degree.. 1,510 1,403 92.9 1,309 86.7 94 6.7 108
College graduates.............. 589 569 96.6 558 94.8 11 1.8 20
Women............................ 7,263 5,425 74.7 4,856 66.9 570 10.5 1,838
Less than a high school diploma 1,654 849 51.3 650 39.3 199 23.5 805
High school graduates, no
college......................... 3,169 2,440 77.0 2,163 68.2 277 11.4 729
Less than a bachelor's degree.. 1,683 1,428 84.9 1,351 80.3 77 5.4 255
College graduates.............. 757 709 93.6 692 91.4 16 2.3 48
White............................ 11,881 9,980 84.0 9,095 76.6 885 8.9 1,901
Black............................ 2,337 1,710 73.2 1,333 57.0 377 22.1 627
Hispanic origin.................. 2,627 2,029 77.3 1,731 65.9 298 14.7 597
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.