May 18, 2000 (The Editor’s Desk is updated each business day.)

Decline in college enrollment rate

Of the high school graduating class of 1999, 62.9 percent were enrolled in colleges or universities in the fall. The college enrollment rate was somewhat lower than a year earlier and was well below its October 1997 record high of 67.0 percent.

College enrollment of new high school graduates, October 1997-99
[Chart data—TXT]

Among the 2.9 million youth who graduated from high school in 1999, about 1.8 million were enrolled in college the following fall. The college enrollment rate of young women, at 64.4 percent, continued to exceed that of young men (61.4 percent).

This information is from a supplement to the October 1999 Current Population Survey (CPS), a monthly nationwide survey of about 50,000 households that provides basic data on national employment and unemployment. Additional information is available from "College Enrollment and Work Activity of 1999 High School Graduates," news release USDL 00-136.

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