Tracking the Historical Gender Gap in Higher Education Enrollments

The latest data from the U.S. Department of Education shows that in 2009, 44.2 percent of all women in the United States between the ages of 18 and 24 were enrolled in higher education. For men in that age group, 38.4 percent were enrolled in higher education.

Looking at the historical trend, 40 years ago young men were far more likely to be enrolled in higher education than young women. In 1971, 32.5 percent of men ages 18 to 24 were enrolled compared to 20.8 percent of women in that age group. During the 1970s the gender gap closed significantly.

In 1988, the percentage of young women enrolled in higher education surpassed the percentage of men for the first time. Each year since 1991 the percentage of young women enrolled in higher education has been higher than the percentage of young men. In the chart below, women enrollments are represented by the red line and the enrollments of men are represented by the blue line.