New Data on the Gender Gap in Degree Attainments

The U.S. Department of Education has released preliminary statistics on the number of degrees earned at U.S. colleges and universities for the 2011-12 academic year. The data shows that women received 1,760,657 degrees from four-year institutions. This was 58.1 percent of all degrees earned at these institutions. Women earned 56.8 percent of all four-year degrees at public institutions and 58.8 percent of all four-year degrees at private, not-for-profit colleges and universities.

At two-year colleges, women received 430,102 degrees. This was 61.2 percent of all two-year degrees.