That’s the forecast made in the Department of Education’s Condition of Education, released today. Here’s the story in the Chronicle (password protected).
What’s interesting is that other reports, including a recent study from the American Council on Education, indicated that the college gender gaps have stabilized. Anecdotal evidence from community colleges suggested that the percentage of male graduates might be increasing.
I believe I’m allowed to offer up a brief excerpt from the Chronicle story;
Men's Share of College Enrollments Will Continue to Dwindle, Federal Report Says By Peter Schmidt Washington Women now account for a disproportionate share of the enrollments of higher-education institutions at every degree level and are likely to become an even more dominant presence on campuses over the coming decade, according to results of a study released today by the U.S. Education Department. The report, a compendium of data published annually by the department's National Center for Education Statistics, projects that by 2019 women will account for 59 percent of total undergraduate enrollment and 61 percent of total postbaccalaureate enrollment at the nation's colleges and universities. Since the late 1990s, they have accounted for about three-fourths of the increase in the number of master's degrees awarded in the United States and nearly all of the growth in the number of professional degrees earned, the report says.