Slowly but surely, college campuses that for decades were dominated by males are becoming the place where the boys are not.
In a trend that is reshaping everything from recruiting to social life, women increasingly outnumber men at colleges and universities. Even if the imbalance never becomes extreme, it raises concerns about the consequences of fewer men getting advanced education, and the sense that the liberal arts education may become a women's domain.Nationally, the population of students enrolled in higher education tipped toward women more than a decade ago, and the skew is growing, year by year. Although census figures show that there are slightly more college-age men than women, according to U.S. Department of Education statistics, there were 8.4 million women and only 6.7 million men enrolled in college in 1996, the last year for which statistics are available.
The number of men enrolled in college has declined each year from 1991 to 1995 but rose in 1996, while the number of women has risen steadily. And by 2007, the department projects, that gender gap will be larger, with 9.2 million women and only 6.9 million men.
Women outnumber men in every category of higher education: public, private, religiously affiliated, four-year, two-year. And among part-time students, older students and African-Americans, the skew is much larger.
There is no clear consensus on what men are doing instead of college, and why they are less committed to higher education. But experts say it is probably a confluence of factors, from girls' greater success in high school to a strong economy that may give boys a sense that they can make their way without higher education.