More High School Graduates Attending College Than Ever Before

New data from the Labor Department indicates that high school graduates are going to college in droves.

The Wall Street Journal has more:

Some 70.1% of the 2.9 million new graduates between the ages of 16 and 24 headed to colleges and universities, the Labor Department said Tuesday, based on data from January through October 2009. That percentage was a historical high for the data series, which began in 1959.

College-enrollment rates have been rising gradually: In 2008, 68.6% of high-school graduates headed to college, up from 62.9% in 1999. But the poor economy, which has created a particularly tough labor market for young and uneducated workers, is amplifying the trend.

The data also reveals that more female high school graduates choose to go to college than male -- 73.8% vs. 66% -- and that non-college degree seeking young adults must cope with a 35% unemployment rate.

Did you go to college? Or did you or someone you know consider not going to college?