About one million fewer young men were attending college last year than about a decade ago, according to a data analysis by the Pew Research Center.
Last year, there were about 1.2 million fewer young people ages 18 to 24 enrolled in college compared to 11 years earlier in 2011, when college attendance peaked, the Pew Research Center noted on Monday.
Men drove the vast majority of that decline, especially men opting not to attend four-year schools.
One million fewer young men were in college last year, while only 0.2 million fewer young women were enrolled.
This means that men now make up only 44% of young college students compared to 47% in 2011, Pew said, citing newly released U.S. Census Bureau data. At four-year schools, men are an even smaller share of the 18 to 24 student population at 42%.
The gender gap is particularly stark among white high school graduates.
About half of young white women who have graduated high school are enrolled in college, compared to 40% of their male counterparts. In 2011, 52% of those young women were enrolled, and 49% of men — a much smaller gap.
Two-year colleges such as community colleges have also seen an enrollment drop over the last decade, but the gender disparity is not as stark.
Men now actually make up a slightly higher portion of the student population at two-year colleges, 49% compared to 48% in 2011.
Notably, more young people are graduating from high school now than in 2011, Pew noted. However, more high school graduates are deciding to skip college.
Only 39% of young men who have graduated high school are attending college now, down from 47% in 2011. Meanwhile, 48% of young women who have graduated high school are attending college, down only 1% from 2011.
One issue affecting the dip in college enrollment is concerns around student loans.
In the last decade, more young people have expressed concerns about taking out pricey student loans to pay for college tuition, which has been spiking for years. Many former students who did take out thousands in loans are now struggling to pay them back.
Nearly nine million people missed the first student loan payment they were supposed to make after the pandemic pause ended in October, the Department of Education said Friday. That amounts to about 40% of the 22 million people who had payments due.
Other issues that appear to be contributing to the college enrollment decline are the economic impact of the pandemic and a birth rate that has been falling for nearly two decades.
Between 2019 and 2021 during the pandemic, undergraduate college enrollment plummeted nearly 8%, according to data from the National Student Clearinghouse.
Many students also struggled with remote learning during COVID restrictions.
Initially, analysts thought students might still enroll a year or two after graduating high school, but those predictions have not turned out to be true.
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