Almost Two Thirds of College Students Who Study Abroad Are Women

New data from the Institute of International Education shows that of the 283,332 American college students who studied abroad during the 2011-12 academic year, 64.8 percent were women. This was up from 64.4 percent during the 2010-11 academic year and 63.5 percent in the 2009-10 academic year. The 2009-10 rate was the lowest percentage since the turn of the century.

Women make up about 57 percent of all enrollments in higher education, so it appears that for all students enrolled in college, women are significantly more likely than men to choose to study abroad.