The Nationwide Gender Gap in College Graduation Rates

Data compiled by the National Collegiate Athletic Association shows graduation rates of for all students who entered college in 2010 and earned their degrees within six years at the association’s Division I institutions. These colleges and universities are among the largest in the nation. For all students who enrolled in bachelor’s degree programs at these four-year institutions in 2010, 66 percent earned their degrees by 2016.

When we break the figures down by gender, we see that 68 percent of women earned their degrees within six years compared to 63 percent of men. The gender graduation rate gap varied by race but the graduation rate for women was higher for all major racial and ethnic groups. For African American students there was a 9 percentage-point gap in favor of women. For Hispanics there was a 8 percentage-point gender gap in favor of women.

If we look at students who received athletic scholarships at these large institutions, we find a much larger gender gap. Three quarters of women students who entered college in 2010 with an athletic scholarship went on to earn their degree within six years. Only 61 percent of men who entered college in 2010 with an athletic scholarship earned a bachelor’s degree by 2016.