US: Fewer Men Attending College

The enrollment of male students at universities and colleges in the United States has been on a decline in recent years.

According to a report published earlier this year titled “Degrees of Difference: Male College Enrollment and Completion,” by the American Institute for Boys and Men, there are 2.4 million more female than male undergraduate students on US campuses.

As the report states, there are 8.9 million women pursuing undergraduate degrees at US colleges compared to 6.5 million men, and much of this gap is attributed to fewer male students enrolling in four-year colleges, Erudera.com reports.

The same revealed that men are also less likely to graduate from college than women. The lowest number of bachelor’s degrees awarded to men was recorded in 2021. Only 42 percent of bachelor's degrees were awarded to men that year, a historic low. This is almost equal to 43 percent of bachelor’s degrees awarded to women in 1970.

“The male share could be lower because men are less likely to enroll in college, or because they are less likely to finish college after enrolling, or both,” the report states.

According to the US Department of Education, the share of men pursuing college degrees is at a historic low of 41 percent.

Another analysis by Pew Research published last December revealed that only 39 percent of young men who graduated high school attended college. This figure stood at 47 percent in 2011.

Overall, the number of young Americans enrolling in colleges has decreased in the past ten years. In 2022, the number of college students aged 18-24 dropped by nearly 1.2 million from its highest in 2011.

“This shift is driven entirely by the falling share of men who are students at four-year colleges. Today, men represent only 42 percent of students ages 18 to 24 at four-year schools, down from 47 percent in 2011,” Pew Research said.

In a 2021 survey, the Pew Research Center found that reasons why men and women choose not to go to college differ, with men being more likely than women to say they didn't feel like a degree is necessary for the job they were intending to do.

National Student Clearinghouse Research Center reported that women account for 58 percent of undergraduates in US colleges. With this trend, women continuing to outnumber men in higher education enrollment, universities are making efforts to recruit more male students.

According to the Hechinger Report, a national nonprofit newsroom, one of these institutions is Malcolm X College where leaders launched a program to connect one lecturer with Black male students who have been dropping out in higher numbers.

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