Table 1. Labor force status of 1995 high school graduates and 1994-95 college dropouts 16 to 24 years old by school
Table 2. Labor force status of persons 16 to 24 years old by school enrollment, educational attainment, sex, race,
Technical information: (202) 606-6378 USDL 96-152
606-6373
For release: 10:00 A.M. EDT
Media contact: 606-5902 Thursday, April 25, 1996
COLLEGE ENROLLMENT AND WORK ACTIVITY OF 1995 HIGH SCHOOL
GRADUATES
Sixty-two percent of the high school graduating class of 1995 were
enrolled in colleges or universities in the fall, the Bureau of Labor
Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor reported today. The enrollment
rate has remained steady in recent years at historically high levels.
These data come from the Current Population Survey (CPS), a monthly
nationwide survey of about 50,000 households conducted for BLS by the
Bureau of the Census. Each October, the survey includes special questions
on the school enrollment and high school graduation status of the nation's
youth 16 to 24 years of age.
Recent High School Graduates and Dropouts
Among the 2.6 million youth who graduated from high school in 1995,
about 1.6 million were enrolled in college the following fall. Men and
women were about equally likely to attend college. There were differences
in enrollment status, however, between the race and ethnic groups. Sixty-
three percent of the white high school graduates were enrolled in college
the following fall, compared with just 54 percent of Hispanics and 51
percent of blacks. (See table 1.)
Among the recent high school graduates enrolled in college, about two-
thirds were attending 4-year colleges and a third were attending 2-year
colleges; these proportions have not changed significantly in recent years.
Those who were enrolled in 2-year colleges were much more likely to be in
the labor forceworking or actively seeking workthan those in 4-year
schools (64 versus 38 percent). In addition, part-time students enrolled
in either 2- or 4-year colleges were nearly twice as likely to participate
in the labor force as their full-time counterparts (82 versus 43 percent).
Eighty percent of the recent high school graduates who were not enrolled
in college participated in the labor force, nearly the same proportion as
those attending college on a part-time basis. Among these labor force
participants, however, the non-students were twice as likely to be
unemployed as were the part-time students (20.9 versus 9.6 percent).
Labor market problems were greater for the 604,000 recent high school
dropouts--those who left school between October 1994 and 1995 without
graduating. Only 68 percent of this group participated in the labor force,
and their unemployment rate was 29.6 percent. Female high school dropouts
- 2 -
were less likely than their male counterparts to participate in the labor force
(60 versus 74 percent) and, when they did, were more likely to be unemployed.
The unemployment rates for these men and women were 28.7 and 30.9 percent,
respectively.
Youth Enrolled in School
Of the entire population of 16- to 24-year-olds (32 million persons),
over half were enrolled in either high school (8.1 million) or college (8.7
million) in October 1995. Of those enrolled in college, 8 out of 10
attended school on a full-time basis.
Among high school students, 41 percent were in the labor force when
surveyed, and their unemployment rate was 18.1 percent. For college
students, labor force participation rates varied greatly between full- and
part-time enrollees. Just over half of the full-time students were in the
labor force (52 percent), while the participation rate for part-time
students was 86 percent. Full-time students in the labor force also were
twice as likely to be unemployed as their part-time counterparts (8.3
versus 3.9 percent). Among both high school and college students,
unemployment rates were roughly equivalent for men and women, but were much
higher for blacks and Hispanics than for whites. (See table 2.)
Out-of-School Youth
Among 16- to 24-year-olds not enrolled in school, 80 percent were in the
labor force in October 1995. Labor force participation rates for men were
considerably higher than for women in this group (90 versus 71 percent).
This disparity in labor force activity between young men and women is
largest among the least educated and nearly disappears among college
graduates. Blacks and Hispanics had lower labor force participation rates
and higher unemployment rates than whites. The level of educational
attainment, however, was closely linked to labor market status. The
jobless rate for youth who had not graduated from high school, at 22.5
percent, was far higher than the rates for high school or college
graduates, 12.0 and 6.2 percent, respectively. (See table 2.)
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| sensory impaired individuals upon request. Voice phone: |
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| phone number: 1-800-326-2577. |
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Table 1. Labor force status of 1995 high school graduates and 1994-95 college dropouts 16 to 24 years old by school
enrollment, sex, race, and Hispanic origin, October 1995
(Numbers in thousands)
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
| | |
| | Civilian labor force |
_______________________________________________________
| Civilian | | | | | Not in
Characteristic | noninsti-| | Percent| Employed | Unemployed | labor
_____________________________________
|population| Total | popula-| | | | |
| | | tion | Total |Percent of| Number | Rate |
| | | | |population| | |
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
| | | | | | | |
Total, 1995 high school graduates.......| 2,599 | 1,546| 59.5 | 1,284| 49.4 | 262| 16.9 | 1,053
| | | | | | | |
Men...................................| 1,238 | 749| 60.5 | 602| 48.6 | 147| 19.6 | 489
Women.................................| 1,361 | 797| 58.6 | 682| 50.1 | 115| 14.4 | 564
| | | | | | | |
White.................................| 2,088 | 1,278| 61.2 | 1,096| 52.5 | 182| 14.2 | 810
Black.................................| 356 | 202| 56.9 | 144| 40.4 | 59| 29.1 | 153
Hispanic origin.......................| 288 | 161| 55.9 | 96| 33.3 | 65| 40.5 | 127
| | | | | | | |
Enrolled in college...................| 1,610 | 756| 47.0 | 659| 40.9 | 97| 12.8 | 853
| | | | | | | |
Enrolled in 2-year college..........| 559 | 359| 64.1 | 299| 53.4 | 60| 16.7 | 201
Enrolled in 4-year college..........| 1,050 | 397| 37.8 | 360| 34.3 | 37| 9.4 | 653
| | | | | | | |
Full-time students..................| 1,450 | 626| 43.2 | 541| 37.3 | 85| 13.5 | 824
Part-time students..................| 159 | 130| 81.7 | 118| 73.9 | 12| 9.6 | 29
| | | | | | | |
Men.................................| 775 | 358| 46.1 | 305| 39.4 | 52| 14.7 | 417
Women...............................| 835 | 398| 47.7 | 354| 42.4 | 45| 11.2 | 436
| | | | | | | |
White...............................| 1,308 | 636| 48.6 | 569| 43.5 | 67| 10.6 | 672
Black...............................| 183 | 77| 41.9 | 56| 30.5 | 21| 27.0 | 106
Hispanic origin.....................| 155 | 69| 44.6 | 40| 25.7 | 29| (1) | 86
| | | | | | | |
Not enrolled in college...............| 990 | 790| 79.8 | 625| 63.1 | 165| 20.9 | 200
| | | | | | | |
Men.................................| 463 | 391| 84.5 | 297| 64.1 | 94| 24.1 | 72
Women...............................| 527 | 399| 75.7 | 328| 62.3 | 70| 17.7 | 128
| | | | | | | |
White...............................| 780 | 642| 82.4 | 528| 67.7 | 115| 17.9 | 137
Black...............................| 173 | 126| 72.9 | 88| 50.8 | 38| 30.3 | 47
Hispanic origin.....................| 133 | 92| 68.9 | 56| 42.1 | 36| 39.0 | 41
| | | | | | | |
Total, 1994-95 high school dropouts 2/..| 604 | 409| 67.7 | 288| 47.7 | 121| 29.6 | 195
| | | | | | | |
Men...................................| 339 | 251| 74.0 | 179| 52.8 | 72| 28.7 | 88
Women.................................| 265 | 157| 59.5 | 109| 41.1 | 49| 30.9 | 107
| | | | | | | |
White.................................| 448 | 312| 69.8 | 227| 50.8 | 85| 27.2 | 135
Black.................................| 109 | 66| 61.0 | 40| 36.4 | 27| (1) | 42
Hispanic origin.......................| 174 | 119| 68.6 | 84| 48.5 | 35| 29.3 | 55
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
1 Data not shown where base is less than 75,000.
2 Data refer to persons who dropped out of school between October 1994 and October 1995.
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 1995
(Numbers in thousands)
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
| | |
| | Civilian labor force |
_______________________________________________________
| Civilian | | | | | Not in
Characteristic | noninsti-| | Percent| Employed | Unemployed | labor
_____________________________________
|population| Total | popula-| | | | |
| | | tion | Total |Percent of| Number | Rate |
| | | | |population| | |
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
| | | | | | | |
Total, 16 to 24 years..............| 32,379 | 20,794| 64.2 | 18,318| 56.6 | 2,476| 11.9 | 11,585
| | | | | | | |
Enrolled in school......................| 16,842 | 8,301| 49.3 | 7,346| 43.6 | 954| 11.5 | 8,541
| | | | | | | |
Enrolled in high school 1/............| 8,144 | 3,305| 40.6 | 2,708| 33.2 | 598| 18.1 | 4,839
| | | | | | | |
Men.................................| 4,348 | 1,745| 40.1 | 1,410| 32.4 | 335| 19.2 | 2,603
Women...............................| 3,797 | 1,560| 41.1 | 1,298| 34.2 | 263| 16.8 | 2,236
| | | | | | | |
White...............................| 6,251 | 2,793| 44.7 | 2,357| 37.7 | 435| 15.6 | 3,459
Black...............................| 1,418 | 376| 26.5 | 248| 17.5 | 128| 34.0 | 1,042
Hispanic origin.....................| 998 | 282| 28.3 | 212| 21.2 | 70| 24.9 | 716
| | | | | | | |
Enrolled in college...................| 8,697 | 4,996| 57.4 | 4,639| 53.3 | 357| 7.1 | 3,702
| | | | | | | |
Enrolled in 2-year college..........| 2,272 | 1,557| 68.5 | 1,400| 61.6 | 157| 10.1 | 715
Enrolled in 4-year college..........| 6,425 | 3,438| 53.5 | 3,239| 50.4 | 200| 5.8 | 2,987
| | | | | | | |
Full-time students..................| 7,211 | 3,713| 51.5 | 3,406| 47.2 | 307| 8.3 | 3,498
Part-time students..................| 1,486 | 1,283| 86.3 | 1,233| 82.9 | 50| 3.9 | 204
| | | | | | | |
Men.................................| 4,157 | 2,317| 55.7 | 2,145| 51.6 | 172| 7.4 | 1,840
Women...............................| 4,541 | 2,679| 59.0 | 2,494| 54.9 | 185| 6.9 | 1,862
| | | | | | | |
White...............................| 7,128 | 4,237| 59.4 | 3,965| 55.6 | 272| 6.4 | 2,891
Black...............................| 1,013 | 486| 48.0 | 419| 41.4 | 67| 13.9 | 526
Hispanic origin.....................| 765 | 426| 55.7 | 372| 48.7 | 54| 12.6 | 339
| | | | | | | |
Not enrolled in school..................| 15,537 | 12,493| 80.4 | 10,972| 70.6 | 1,521| 12.2 | 3,044
16 to 19 years........................| 3,405 | 2,491| 73.2 | 1,988| 58.4 | 503| 20.2 | 914
20 to 24 years........................| 12,132 | 10,002| 82.4 | 8,984| 74.0 | 1,018| 10.2 | 2,130
| | | | | | | |
Men...................................| 7,704 | 6,906| 89.6 | 6,069| 78.8 | 837| 12.1 | 798
Less than a high school diploma.....| 1,978 | 1,611| 81.5 | 1,302| 65.8 | 309| 19.2 | 367
High school graduates, no college...| 3,508 | 3,173| 90.5 | 2,801| 79.8 | 372| 11.7 | 335
Less than a bachelor's degree.......| 1,574 | 1,502| 95.5 | 1,389| 88.2 | 114| 7.6 | 72
College graduates...................| 644 | 619| 96.2 | 578| 89.7 | 41| 6.7 | 25
| | | | | | | |
Women.................................| 7,833 | 5,587| 71.3 | 4,903| 62.6 | 684| 12.3 | 2,246
Less than a high school diploma.....| 1,898 | 832| 43.8 | 592| 31.2 | 240| 28.8 | 1,066
High school graduates, no college...| 3,119 | 2,357| 75.6 | 2,062| 66.1 | 294| 12.5 | 762
Less than a bachelor's degree.......| 1,953 | 1,600| 81.9 | 1,496| 76.6 | 103| 6.5 | 353
College graduates...................| 864 | 799| 92.5 | 752| 87.0 | 47| 5.9 | 65
| | | | | | | |
White.................................| 12,338 | 10,131| 82.1 | 9,087| 73.7 | 1,043| 10.3 | 2,207
Black.................................| 2,408 | 1,745| 72.5 | 1,349| 56.0 | 396| 22.7 | 663
Hispanic origin.......................| 2,723 | 1,955| 71.8 | 1,662| 61.0 | 293| 15.0 | 768
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
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.
Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics
Contact: (cpsinfo@bls.gov) Division of Labor Force Statistics-BLS
Last revised: December 05, 1997
URL: http://www.bls.census.gov/cps/pub/hsgec_1095.htm
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