April 29, 2009 (The Editor’s Desk is updated each business day.)

2008 high school grads and college enrollment

Of the 3.2 million youth who graduated from high school from October 2007 to October 2008, 2.2 million (68.6 percent) were attending college in October 2008. College enrollment rates were 71.5 percent for young women and 65.9 percent for young men.

College enrollment of year 2008 high school graduates, by sex
[Chart data—TXT]

The labor force participation rate (the proportion of the population with a job or looking for work) was higher for young women enrolled in college (46.1 percent) than for their male counterparts (36.0 percent).

Among recent high school graduates enrolled in college in October 2008, 93.2 percent were full-time students. The labor force participation rate was 38.5 percent for full-time students and 75.9 percent for part-time students.

About 6 in 10 recent high school graduates who were enrolled in college attended 4-year institutions. Of these students, 31.0 percent participated in the labor force, while 55.9 percent of recent graduates enrolled in 2-year colleges were in the labor force.

This information is from a supplement to the October 2008 Current Population Survey. Additional information is available from "College Enrollment and Work Activity of 2008 High School Graduates," (PDF) (HTML) news release USDL 09-0454.