2004 College Enrollment and Work Activity of High School Graduates — 2005-03-25

In October 2004, 66.7 percent of high school graduates from the class of 2004 were enrolled in colleges or universities, according to data released today by the U.S. Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics. The college enrollment rate for recent high school graduates was almost 3 per- centage points higher than a year earlier and approached the historical high for the series (67.0 percent in 1997). Information on school enrollment and work activity is collected monthly in the Current Population Survey (CPS). Each October, a supplement to the basic CPS gathers more detailed information on full-time and part-time en- rollment status, level of education, and enrollment status a year earlier. The CPS is a monthly nationwide survey of about 60,000 households that ob- tains information on employment, unemployment, earnings, demographics, and other characteristics of the civilian noninstitutional population age 16 and over. Additional information about the October supplement is included in the Technical Note.