New data from the U.S. Department of Education shows gender differences in applications, admissions, and enrollments in U.S. higher education.
Women produced a total of 6,595,831 first-year applications for enrollment in classes for the fall 2020 semester at four-year colleges and universities. In contrast, men submitted 4,888,015 applications for fall 2020 first-time enrollment at four-year institutions. Thus, women accounted for 57.4 percent of all applications to four-year colleges and universities that year.
A total of 4,130,711 applications from women for places at four-year colleges were accepted for admission. This produced an acceptance rate of 62.6 percent. For men, 58.1 percent of all applications for admission to four-year colleges were accepted. (Note: Many students apply to and are accepted at multiple colleges and universities.)
A total of 830,377 women enrolled full-time at four-year colleges and universities in the fall of 2020, compared to 646,780 men. So women were 56.2 percent of all first-time, full-time enrollments for fall 2020. Remember, too, that enrollments overall were down significantly that year due to the pandemic.
Nearly 37,000 applications for enrollment in degree programs at two-year colleges were submitted by women compared to 20,952 men. Thus, women accounted for 63.4 percent of all applications for degree programs at two-year institutions.