Scars from the Great Recession and slow recovery include falling college enrollment: Share of young high school graduates enrolled in college or a university, by gender, 1989–2014

All Men Women
1989 44.1% 43.4% 44.6%
1990 45.6% 44.9% 46.2%
1991 45.7% 44.8% 46.5%
1992 46.5% 45.3% 47.6%
1993 47.1% 45.5% 48.4%
1994 48.8% 47.1% 50.4%
1995 48.2% 46.8% 49.5%
1996 49.8% 47.5% 51.9%
1997 50.5% 48.6% 52.3%
1998 52.4% 50.1% 54.6%
1999 52.2% 49.7% 54.5%
2000 51.5% 48.4% 54.1%
2001 53.0% 51.3% 54.5%
2002 53.7% 51.6% 55.6%
2003 54.2% 51.2% 56.9%
2004 56.3% 52.8% 59.6%
2005 55.6% 52.6% 58.4%
2006 54.6% 50.9% 58.2%
2007 56.5% 53.1% 59.7%
2008 56.8% 53.5% 60.1%
2009 58.4% 54.9% 61.9%
2010 59.1% 55.4% 62.7%
2011 59.7% 55.9% 63.3%
2012 59.8% 55.6% 63.8%
2013 56.7% 53.0% 60.4%
2013-04-01 56.4% 52.8% 59.9%

Note: Data are for high school graduates age 17–20 who may have previous college experience. Data for 2014 represent 12-month average from April 2013–March 2014. Shaded areas denote recessions.

Source: EPI analysis of Current Population Survey Outgoing Rotation Group microdata

Reproduced from Figure J in The Class of 2014: The Weak Economy Is Idling Too Many Young Graduates

Source: EPI analysis of Current Population Survey Outgoing Rotation Group microdata from the CPS survey conducted by the Bureau of the Census for the Bureau of Labor Statistics [machine-readable microdata file]. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Census Bureau.

Reproduced from Figure J in The Class of 2014: The Weak Economy Is Idling Too Many Young Graduates, by Heidi Shierholz, Alyssa Davis, and Will Kimball, Economic Policy Institute, 2014

View the underlying data on epi.org.