Published Apr-20-2009
During the October when they were age 21, nearly half (46 percent) of women were attending college compared with 36 percent of men (Graph 1). This difference in college-enrollment rates stems from three factors: (1) Women were more likely to have graduated from high school; (2) among high school graduates, women were more likely to attend college; and (3) once enrolled in college, women were less likely than men to leave college between school years.
The level of educational attainment when a person first left school does not always indicate his or her final level of educational attainment. Eight percent of individuals who were high school dropouts in the October they were age 20 had graduated from high school or earned a GED by the following October.
Some people delay their college enrollment for a year or more after high school, and others enroll in college and then leave before earning a degree. Twelve percent of high school graduates not enrolled in college during the October when they were age 20 were enrolled in college the following October. Eighty-two percent of individuals attending college during the October when they were age 20 were still attending college by the following October, while 1 percent were enrolled in a training program and 17 percent were not enrolled in college or in a training program.
Instead of attending school, some young adults enroll in training to further their skills. Four percent of those who were high school dropouts in the October when age 20 and 6 percent of high school graduates not enrolled in college at that age were attending some kind of training or apprenticeship program the October when they were age 21.
At age 21, labor force status differed substantially between high school dropouts, high school graduates who had never attended college, and individuals who had left college. Those with more education were more likely to be employed in civilian jobs or in the military. In the October they were age 21, about 6 of 10 high school dropouts were employed in civilian jobs or in the military. At this same age, 72 percent of high school graduates who had never enrolled in college were employed in civilian jobs, and another 6 percent were serving in the Armed Forces.
High school graduates not enrolled in college during the Octobers when they were ages 20 or 21 were employed an average of 77 percent of the weeks between the October when they were age 20 and the following October. By comparison, high school dropouts were employed 57 percent of the weeks between the October when they were age 20 and the following October.
Regardless of the level of educational attainment, men were employed a larger percentage of weeks than women, and whites were employed a larger percentage of weeks than blacks or Hispanics. Men were more likely than women to work 40 hours or more per week.
This information was taken from a Bureau of Labor Statistics press release dated January 2009.
