A Snapshot of the Gender Gap in Higher Education Enrollments

New data released by the U.S. Census Bureau offers a look at the current state of the gender gap in higher education enrollments. In October 2014, there were 10,546,000 women enrolled in higher education in the United States, compared to 8,629,000 men. Thus, women made up 55 percent of all enrollments in higher education.

There were 5,642,000 women enrolled in four-year colleges and universities, compared to 5,015,000 men. Women were 53 percent of the total enrollments at four-year colleges and universities. At two-year colleges, there were 2,785,000 women and 2,056,000 men enrolled. Thus, women were 57.5 percent of all students enrolled in two-year colleges.

In graduate schools, 2,119,000 women were enrolled compared to 1,559,000 men. Thus, women were 57.6 percent of all enrollments in graduate schools.