The Gender Gap in Higher Education Enrollments of Recent High School Graduates

The U.S. Census Bureau recently released new data on school enrollments in the United States. The statistics show a significant gender gap in college enrollments of recent high schools graduates.

In 2014, 1,423,000 men and 1,446,000 women graduated from high schools in the United States. By October 2o14, 65.3 percent of male recent high school graduates had enrolled in college or vocational school. For women who graduated from high school in 2014, 73.8 percent had enrolled in college or vocational school by October 2014.

If we look at full-time enrollments at four-year colleges only, we find that 40.9 percent of male high school graduates and 42.7 percent of women high school graduates were enrolled. Another 24 percent of women high school graduates were enrolled full-time in community colleges. Only 17.7 percent of male high school graduates in 2014 were enrolled in community colleges by October 2014.

If we look at all high school graduates under the age of 24, we find that 49.6 percent of women were enrolled in college, graduate school, or vocational school in October 2014. For male high school graduates under the age of 24, 44.7 percent were enrolled in college, graduate school, or vocational school in October 2014.