Digest of Education Statistics
2018 Tables and Figures All Years of Tables and Figures Most Recent Full Issue of the Digest


Table 503.20. Percentage of college students 16 to 24 years old who were employed, by attendance status, hours worked per week, and control and level of institution: Selected years, October 1970 through 2017
[Standard errors appear in parentheses]
Control and level of institution and year Full-time students Part-time students
Percent employed1 Hours worked per week2 Percent employed1 Hours worked per week2
Less than 20 hours 20 to 34 hours 35 or more hours Less than 20 hours 20 to 34 hours 35 or more hours
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
Total, all institutions                                                
1970 33.8   (0.88) 19.0   (0.73) 10.4   (0.57) 3.7   (0.35) 82.1   (1.81) 5.0   (1.03) 15.9   (1.72) 60.1   (2.31)
1975 35.3   (0.83) 18.0   (0.67) 12.0   (0.56) 4.6   (0.36) 80.8   (1.55) 6.0   (0.94) 19.4   (1.56) 52.6   (1.97)
1980 40.0   (0.84) 21.3   (0.70) 14.0   (0.59) 3.9   (0.33) 84.7   (1.38) 7.9   (1.04) 22.5   (1.60) 52.7   (1.91)
1985 44.2   (0.88) 21.7   (0.73) 17.3   (0.67) 4.3   (0.36) 85.9   (1.41) 5.7   (0.94) 26.9   (1.80) 52.2   (2.03)
1990 45.7   (0.89) 20.6   (0.73) 19.3   (0.71) 4.8   (0.38) 83.7   (1.50) 4.0   (0.80) 26.0   (1.78) 52.7   (2.03)
                                                 
1991 47.2   (0.88) 20.9   (0.72) 19.8   (0.70) 5.6   (0.41) 85.9   (1.45) 8.2   (1.15) 25.4   (1.82) 51.0   (2.09)
1992 47.2   (0.87) 20.3   (0.70) 20.3   (0.70) 5.5   (0.40) 83.4   (1.50) 7.5   (1.06) 27.2   (1.79) 47.8   (2.01)
1993 46.3   (0.89) 20.8   (0.72) 19.5   (0.71) 5.1   (0.39) 84.6   (1.43) 8.5   (1.10) 31.4   (1.84) 43.7   (1.96)
1994 48.6   (0.87) 20.1   (0.70) 21.7   (0.72) 5.8   (0.41) 86.3   (1.28) 9.8   (1.10) 31.1   (1.72) 43.8   (1.84)
1995 47.2   (0.87) 19.1   (0.69) 20.3   (0.70) 6.5   (0.43) 82.9   (1.45) 8.6   (1.08) 30.4   (1.77) 42.3   (1.90)
                                                 
1996 49.2   (0.88) 18.2   (0.68) 22.3   (0.74) 7.0   (0.45) 84.8   (1.47) 8.3   (1.13) 27.5   (1.83) 48.0   (2.05)
1997 47.8   (0.86) 18.3   (0.67) 21.4   (0.71) 7.4   (0.45) 84.4   (1.46) 9.4   (1.17) 26.2   (1.77) 47.7   (2.01)
1998 50.2   (0.86) 20.2   (0.69) 20.6   (0.70) 8.0   (0.47) 84.1   (1.45) 7.0   (1.01) 26.8   (1.76) 49.3   (1.98)
1999 50.4   (0.86) 19.0   (0.68) 22.3   (0.72) 7.8   (0.46) 82.3   (1.55) 6.2   (0.98) 28.8   (1.85) 45.9   (2.03)
2000 52.0   (0.86) 20.1   (0.69) 21.7   (0.71) 8.9   (0.49) 84.9   (1.38) 8.6   (1.08) 27.8   (1.73) 47.5   (1.93)
                                                 
2001 47.1   (0.80) 17.4   (0.61) 20.6   (0.65) 7.9   (0.43) 84.4   (1.29) 8.0   (0.97) 25.8   (1.56) 48.9   (1.78)
2002 47.8   (0.78) 17.3   (0.59) 20.9   (0.64) 8.5   (0.44) 78.9   (1.51) 8.7   (1.04) 25.3   (1.61) 43.4   (1.84)
2003 47.7   (0.78) 17.1   (0.59) 20.7   (0.63) 8.8   (0.44) 79.0   (1.44) 7.8   (0.95) 27.2   (1.58) 42.8   (1.75)
2004 49.0   (0.76) 17.7   (0.58) 21.6   (0.62) 8.6   (0.43) 81.5   (1.44) 8.5   (1.04) 27.4   (1.66) 44.1   (1.84)
2005 49.1   (0.75) 17.8   (0.58) 21.1   (0.61) 9.0   (0.43) 85.0   (1.30) 10.2   (1.10) 27.1   (1.62) 47.1   (1.82)
                                                 
2006 46.5   (0.76) 15.1   (0.55) 22.0   (0.63) 8.1   (0.42) 81.0   (1.41) 7.3   (0.94) 27.6   (1.61) 45.5   (1.80)
2007 45.5   (0.74) 15.4   (0.54) 20.7   (0.60) 8.7   (0.42) 81.2   (1.39) 6.8   (0.90) 27.2   (1.59) 45.9   (1.78)
2008 45.3   (0.72) 15.6   (0.53) 20.1   (0.58) 8.7   (0.41) 79.4   (1.51) 9.3   (1.09) 24.7   (1.61) 44.4   (1.86)
2009 40.6   (0.69) 15.6   (0.51) 17.6   (0.54) 6.2   (0.34) 76.2   (1.57) 10.1   (1.11) 27.5   (1.65) 36.9   (1.78)
2010 39.8   (1.01) 14.9   (0.57) 17.2   (0.77) 6.6   (0.46) 73.4   (2.03) 10.7   (1.24) 28.3   (1.92) 32.8   (2.19)
                                                 
2011 41.3   (0.94) 15.8   (0.67) 17.4   (0.66) 7.0   (0.44) 75.5   (1.93) 9.7   (1.21) 28.4   (1.99) 35.5   (2.16)
2012 41.0   (0.83) 15.1   (0.72) 17.8   (0.71) 7.2   (0.44) 71.7   (2.07) 9.0   (1.27) 29.5   (2.09) 32.1   (2.07)
2013 39.5   (1.00) 14.0   (0.67) 18.5   (0.77) 6.6   (0.50) 75.7   (2.06) 10.5   (1.44) 28.7   (1.76) 35.4   (2.11)
2014 41.3   (0.97) 15.6   (0.69) 17.9   (0.80) 6.6   (0.48) 80.3   (1.81) 13.8   (1.58) 26.9   (2.33) 38.5   (2.36)
2015 39.5   (0.98) 15.6   (0.77) 16.1   (0.75) 6.7   (0.56) 75.3   (2.33) 10.5   (1.48) 32.2   (2.67) 31.7   (2.15)
                                                 
2016 39.7   (0.99) 15.5   (0.71) 16.6   (0.72) 6.6   (0.55) 79.2   (2.18) 10.8   (1.55) 31.4   (2.35) 36.0   (2.21)
2017 41.1   (1.10) 15.6   (0.76) 17.2   (0.81) 7.1   (0.54) 82.2   (1.78) 11.0   (1.45) 34.3   (2.19) 35.8   (2.32)
                                                 
Public 4-year institutions                                                
1990 43.0   (1.18) 19.8   (0.95) 18.6   (0.93) 3.7   (0.45) 87.4   (2.25) 4.2 ! (1.37) 27.9   (3.05) 54.7   (3.39)
1995 48.8   (1.16) 19.4   (0.92) 22.6   (0.97) 5.6   (0.53) 86.7   (2.08) 9.6   (1.80) 30.8   (2.83) 45.0   (3.05)
2000 50.5   (1.15) 19.1   (0.90) 21.5   (0.94) 9.0   (0.66) 87.3   (1.91) 8.5   (1.60) 26.4   (2.53) 50.9   (2.87)
2005 49.6   (0.99) 17.8   (0.76) 22.7   (0.83) 8.0   (0.54) 86.3   (1.90) 9.0   (1.58) 26.8   (2.45) 49.7   (2.76)
2010 40.8   (1.27) 15.2   (0.88) 18.0   (0.93) 6.6   (0.64) 70.4   (3.58) 10.5   (2.04) 26.9   (2.82) 32.1   (3.59)
                                                 
2012 41.0   (1.13) 14.9   (0.95) 18.6   (0.99) 6.7   (0.57) 77.6   (3.20) 9.9   (2.41) 28.0   (3.44) 38.8   (3.36)
2013 40.1   (1.31) 13.9   (0.88) 19.2   (0.98) 6.6   (0.63) 78.8   (2.88) 9.8   (1.94) 26.6   (2.80) 41.1   (3.84)
2014 41.1   (1.31) 14.6   (0.91) 18.4   (0.99) 6.9   (0.69) 83.4   (2.86) 12.2   (2.61) 28.4   (3.69) 42.3   (3.81)
2015 39.5   (1.32) 14.9   (0.98) 16.5   (1.01) 6.6   (0.73) 76.9   (3.39) 10.1   (2.01) 30.4   (3.84) 34.8   (3.38)
2016 39.7   (1.27) 15.0   (0.81) 16.8   (0.95) 6.9   (0.72) 81.9   (3.00) 11.6   (2.10) 32.6   (3.67) 36.7   (3.33)
2017 39.8   (1.28) 14.7   (0.81) 16.3   (0.91) 7.4   (0.69) 85.1   (2.21) 8.8   (1.97) 37.2   (3.24) 38.0   (3.47)
                                                 
Private 4-year institutions                                                
1990 38.1   (1.89) 24.0   (1.66) 9.9   (1.17) 3.5   (0.72) 89.9   (4.27)   (†) 31.9   (6.62) 53.1   (7.09)
1995 38.6   (1.78) 21.6   (1.51) 10.7   (1.13) 4.6   (0.77) 80.1   (4.85) 14.9   (4.32) 26.8   (5.38) 36.5   (5.84)
2000 45.8   (1.88) 23.6   (1.60) 14.9   (1.34) 5.4   (0.85) 78.0   (5.36)   (†) 18.5   (5.02) 52.6   (6.46)
2005 42.3   (1.64) 20.1   (1.33) 13.8   (1.15) 7.0   (0.85) 88.5   (3.32) 10.6 ! (3.20) 34.5   (4.94) 43.2   (5.15)
2010 35.6   (2.37) 15.7   (1.63) 12.2   (1.52) 6.0   (1.08) 78.6   (7.00)   (†) 23.4 ! (7.49) 45.6   (9.01)
                                                 
2012 40.4   (2.39) 19.9   (1.80) 12.2   (1.40) 6.7   (1.13) 84.4   (5.35) 9.5 ! (4.53) 33.9   (6.58) 36.9   (7.38)
2013 34.0   (2.27) 14.9   (1.55) 12.8   (1.33) 5.6   (1.13) 86.9   (4.71) 21.9   (6.40) 29.8   (7.01) 35.2   (6.56)
2014 37.8   (2.29) 18.7   (1.72) 12.0   (1.62) 5.3   (1.00) 77.1   (6.82) 12.9 ! (4.92) 13.5 ! (5.59) 50.8   (8.76)
2015 32.8   (2.49) 18.5   (1.86) 8.3   (1.40) 5.7   (1.20) 73.8   (8.30) 10.4 ! (4.68) 17.8 ! (5.73) 45.6   (8.91)
2016 34.8   (2.20) 17.2   (1.73) 11.0   (1.20) 5.4   (0.94) 75.6   (8.00)   (†) 13.4 ! (5.72) 53.3   (8.65)
2017 37.7   (2.41) 19.7   (2.09) 12.4   (1.69) 4.7   (1.09) 78.3   (7.39)   (†) 29.5   (7.41) 41.5   (9.13)
                                                 
Public 2-year institutions                                                
1990 61.2   (1.94) 19.1   (1.57) 31.2   (1.85) 9.2   (1.15) 81.5   (2.17) 4.1   (1.12) 24.9   (2.42) 51.1   (2.80)
1995 52.9   (1.97) 15.6   (1.43) 25.3   (1.72) 10.9   (1.23) 81.1   (2.21) 6.1   (1.35) 32.5   (2.64) 40.5   (2.77)
2000 63.9   (1.79) 20.6   (1.51) 29.9   (1.71) 11.9   (1.21) 85.5   (2.09) 9.9   (1.77) 30.0   (2.72) 44.9   (2.95)
2005 54.2   (1.69) 15.6   (1.23) 24.2   (1.46) 13.4   (1.16) 82.0   (2.20) 10.8   (1.77) 25.8   (2.50) 44.8   (2.84)
2010 40.6   (1.90) 14.0   (1.20) 19.1   (1.50) 6.8   (0.78) 74.7   (2.51) 11.6   (1.93) 30.1   (2.86) 31.0   (3.08)
                                                 
2012 41.2   (1.76) 12.0   (1.17) 19.8   (1.44) 8.4   (0.95) 66.1   (2.98) 8.3   (1.60) 30.0   (2.70) 26.9   (2.79)
2013 41.8   (1.89) 13.8   (1.37) 20.5   (1.55) 7.1   (1.05) 71.1   (3.02) 8.8   (1.92) 29.8   (2.85) 31.2   (3.09)
2014 45.0   (2.28) 15.9   (1.57) 21.3   (1.82) 6.9   (0.91) 77.5   (2.64) 15.2   (2.35) 28.3   (3.35) 32.4   (3.58)
2015 44.9   (2.08) 15.1   (1.44) 21.8   (1.64) 7.5   (1.08) 75.1   (3.03) 11.4   (2.54) 36.6   (3.66) 26.7   (3.20)
2016 45.6   (2.01) 15.4   (1.51) 22.4   (1.70) 7.5   (1.14) 78.2   (3.23) 10.7   (2.31) 33.0   (3.46) 33.4   (3.33)
2017 46.8   (2.30) 14.9   (1.47) 22.9   (1.91) 7.9   (1.22) 81.0   (2.85) 14.0   (2.46) 33.0   (3.47) 32.7   (3.47)
†Not applicable.
!Interpret data with caution. The coefficient of variation (CV) for this estimate is between 30 and 50 percent.
‡Reporting standards not met. Either there are too few cases for a reliable estimate or the coefficient of variation (CV) is 50 percent or greater.
1 Includes those who were employed but not at work during the survey week.
2 Excludes those who were employed but not at work during the survey week; therefore, detail may not sum to total percentage employed. "Hours worked per week" refers to the number of hours worked at all jobs during the survey week.
NOTE: Students were classified as full time if they were taking at least 12 hours of classes (or at least 9 hours of graduate classes) during an average school week and as part time if they were taking fewer hours. Prior to 2010, standard errors were computed using generalized variance function methodology rather than the more precise replicate weight methodology used in later years.
SOURCE: U.S. Department of Commerce, Census Bureau, Current Population Survey (CPS), October, selected years, 1970 through 2017. (This table was prepared April 2019.)

2018 Tables and Figures All Years of Tables and Figures Most Recent Full Issue of the Digest