Women Expected to Account for 60 Percent of Undergraduates by 2016

Projections from the U.S. Department of Education’s National Center for Education Statistics show that women will account for 60 percent of the undergraduate student body by 2016. The annual “Condition of Education” report for 2007 finds that women will continue to enroll in undergraduate education at higher rates than will their male counterparts.

Overall undergraduate enrollment is projected to continue to grow through 2016, although at a slower rate than for the period 1995 to 2005. The report projects that undergraduate enrollment will exceed 17.3-million students by 2016, compared with just under 15-million students in 2005.

The report also notes that full-time enrollment is expected to grow more rapidly than part-time enrollment and that the rate of enrollment growth at four-year institutions will exceed that for two-year colleges.