New Report Shows That Women Lead Men at All Levels of Degree Attainment

The U.S. Department of Education recently released a new report providing preliminary data on degree awards presented by American institutions of higher learning during the 2015-16 academic year.

The report shows that women earned 1,951,754 degrees from four-year U.S. higher education institutions in the 2015-16 academic year. Men earned 1,412,052 degrees from these colleges and universities during the same time period. Thus, women earned 58 percent of all degrees from four-year institutions. Women earned 59 percent of all degrees from private colleges and universities and 65.5 percent of all degrees from for-profit institutions.

At two-year colleges and universities, women earned 735,708 degrees in the 2015-16 academic year. This was 57.7 percent of all degrees awarded at two-year institutions.

The report shows that women earned 465,151 master’s degrees. This was 59.2 percent of all master’s degrees. Women earned 34,690 doctoral degrees in research fields. This was just slightly ahead of the 34,662 research doctorates earned by men. Women earned 57,906 doctoral degrees in professional practice fields compared to 46,637 for men.

The full report, Postsecondary Institutions and Cost of Attendance in 2016–17; Degrees and Other Awards Conferred, 2015–16; and 12-Month Enrollment, 2015–16, can be downloaded here.