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How Women Fare Compared With Men in College and Afterward, 2016

Almanac 2018
August 19, 2018

A higher percentage of women than men were enrolled in college in 2016, and a higher percentage graduated from four-year colleges within six years. But if college success is measured in terms of financial rewards, women were trailing men considerably. More women than men borrowed money to attend college. Because their incomes after earning degrees were, on average, far lower than men’s, they were left with a disproportionately high level of debt. See accompanying article.

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A higher percentage of women than men were enrolled in college in 2016, and a higher percentage graduated from four-year colleges within six years. But if college success is measured in terms of financial rewards, women were trailing men considerably. More women than men borrowed money to attend college. Because their incomes after earning degrees were, on average, far lower than men’s, they were left with a disproportionately high level of debt. See accompanying article.


Return to the Almanac home page, or go to the Profession, Students, Finance, or States section. To purchase a copy of the Almanac in print or as a downloadable interactive PDF, visit the Chronicle Store. Help guide us to give you the data you need by taking our 10-minute online Almanac survey.


WomenMen
Women had several advantages over men as they started college in the fall of 2016. Their average (self-reported) grades in high school were higher than men’s.
A 59.6% 49.6%
B 38.5% 46.9%
C 2.0% 3.5%
On average, they were more accustomed to hitting the books. Here’s how many hours per week they reported studying during their last year in high school.
One hour or less 7.4% 12.8%
One to 10 hours 66.6% 68.8%
More than 10 hours 26.0% 18.4%
The reasons that men and women deemed “very important” in deciding to go to college differed somewhat. Incoming male freshmen in the fall of 2016 were more likely to cite higher earnings as a strong motivation, while women were more likely to express interest in learning for its own sake.
To be able to get a better job 84.9% 84.7%
To be able to make more money 70.7% 74.9%
To get training for a specific career 80.3% 75.0%
To prepare myself for graduate or professional school 66.8% 54.4%
To gain a general education and appreciation of ideas 79.7% 70.2%
To make me a more cultured person 57.5% 44.0%
To learn more about things that interest me 87.0% 80.0%
In spite of their grades, female college freshmen rated their academic ability, creativity, leadership ability, mathematical ability, public-speaking ability, and risk-taking lower than men did. They were also much more likely to rank their emotional health, physical health, and self-confidence as only average or below average. The incoming freshmen rated themselves as the “highest 10 percent” or “above average” compared with the average person their age in the following categories:
Academic ability 69.7% 76.2%
Artistic ability 33.7% 27.1%
Compassion 75.0% 63.2%
Creativity 51.6% 53.8%
Drive to achieve 77.3% 75.2%
Emotional health 40.4% 55.8%
Leadership ability 59.7% 66.7%
Mathematical ability 39.5% 57.8%
Physical health 44.6% 64.2%
Public-speaking ability 35.3% 46.2%
Risk-taking 38.2% 51.2%
Self-confidence (intellectual) 50.4% 70.3%
Self-confidence (social) 41.1% 52.2%
When asked whether they had concerns about being able to pay for college, women expressed less faith than men did that they would make it.
None (I am confident that I will have sufficient funds) 25.4% 37.6%
Some (but I probably will have enough funds) 58.8% 52.3%
Major (not sure I will have enough funds to complete college) 15.8% 10.1%
Women did better than men did in getting into and graduating from college in 2016.
Acceptance rate at colleges without open enrollment 57.6% 54.0%
Percentage of all undergraduate students enrolled 56.1% 43.9%
Completion of bachelor’s or equivalent at 4-year college within 6 years 56.8% 52.3%
But to achieve what they did, undergraduate women borrowed more money.
Percentage who borrowed federal loans in 2015-16 39.0% 32.9%
Percentage with no cumulative loans 41.2% 49.6%
$1-$5,999 in cumulative loans 13.7% 13.8%
$6,000-$13,499 in cumulative loans 14.6% 12.4%
$13,500-$26,499 in cumulative loans 14.9% 12.6%
$26,500 or more in cumulative loans 15.6% 11.6%
Median cumulative amount borrowed for undergraduate education among undergraduates at all levels (counting students with zero borrowing) $4,814 $654
Median cumulative amount borrowed for undergraduate education among undergraduates at all levels who borrowed at all $14,153 $12,500
Average cumulative amount borrowed by graduating seniors earning bachelor’s degrees (counting students with zero borrowing) $21,619 $18,880
Average cumulative amount borrowed by graduating seniors earning bachelor’s degrees (excluding students with zero borrowing) $30,278 $28,801
That greater borrowing occurred in part because female students, on average, came from poorer, less-educated families than male students did.
Parents’ highest level of education less than bachelor’s 58.5% 51.2%
Parents’ highest level of education bachelor’s or above 41.1% 48.6%
Parents’ income less than $27,900 27.3% 22.4%
Parents’ income $27,900-62,999 25.4% 24.4%
Parents’ income $63,000-113,499 24.3% 25.9%
Parents’ income $113,500 or more 23.0% 27.3%
Median parental income for dependent students $62,581 $70,791
Percentage who received Pell Grants 43.1% 34.0%
Expected family contribution of $0 toward college for those who applied for aid 42.5% 34.6%
Median expected family contribution $7,558 $8,471
Female undergraduates were more likely to be older than their male counterparts, to be independent of their parents, and to have their own dependents.
Age 25 and older 30.4% 26.3%
Dependent 48.2% 54.0%
Independent, no dependents, single 17.4% 24.7%
Independent, no dependents, married 5.1% 4.6%
Independent, with dependents, single 18.5% 7.3%
Independent, with dependents, married 10.9% 9.4%
And when they finished college and needed to pay off their loans, even though they had increased their earning power substantially, women were likely to make far less money than men did. Below are the median earnings of adults 25 and older based on their highest level of educational attainment.
Less than high-school graduate $15,831 $24,644
High-school graduate (includes equivalency) $22,571 $34,010
Some college or associate degree $28,692 $41,731
Bachelor’s degree $42,154 $62,242
Graduate or professional degree $56,859 $85,127
Researchers at Georgetown University have concluded that, to earn the same as men do, women need to attain one more degree than men have. But when women follow that path, they tend to accumulate more debt. The average cumulative debt of research-doctorate recipients in 2016 was 34 percent higher for women than for men.
Undergraduate $9,709 $8,128
Graduate $18,103 $12,601
Total $27,646 $20,611
Even if they went into science, mathematics, and engineering fields traditionally dominated by men, female doctorate recipients had lower salaries in their first job after earning their doctorates than their male counterparts did. The earnings disparity held true in almost every major field, as shown in the sampling below.
Education (69.9% female) $65,000 $72,000
Psychology and social sciences (58.7% female) $65,000 $73,725
Humanities and arts (51.8% female) $51,000 $53,000
Life sciences (55.1% female) $72,000 $78,000
Physical sciences (31.4% female) $80,000 $90,000
Mathematics and computer sciences (24.2% female) $90,000 $110,000
Engineering (23.1% female) $92,000 $100,000
Women, consequently, have a harder time paying back their loans. This is the three-year repayment rate by gender in 2015. The rate indicates the percentage of borrowers in a repayment cohort whose payments reduced the loan principal by at least a dollar after three years.
3-year repayment rate 42% 48%
All those factors help explain why women hold a disproportionate share of all college debt.
Gender breakdown of overall student-loan debt (AAUW estimate)
$890 billion $490 billion
Percentage of total 64.5% 35.5%

Note: Data on the background and goals of freshmen were from a survey of 137,000 first-time, full-time freshmen entering 184 American four-year colleges and universities in 2016. Undergraduate data on borrowing are estimates based on a study of a nationally representative sample of 89,000 undergraduate and 24,000 graduate students who were attending approximately 1,800 U.S. colleges and universities that were eligible for Title IV federal financial aid and who were enrolled at any time between July 1, 2015, and June 30, 2016. Figures for students’ federal loans exclude Direct PLUS loans borrowed by parents. Students referred to as “single” are either unmarried or separated. Parts may not sum to 100 percent because of rounding or the exclusion of a small percentage of unknowns. Overall student debt by gender was estimated by the AAUW based on its analysis of U.S. Department of Education data on enrollment and borrowing. Questions or comments on the Almanac should be sent to the Almanac editor.

Sources: “The American Freshman: National Norms Fall 2016" by the Higher Education Research Institute at the University of California at Los Angeles; U.S. Department of Education’s 2015-16 National Postsecondary Student Aid Study and other data; U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey; Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce, “Women Can’t Win: Despite Making Educational Gains and Pursuing High-Wage Majors, Women Still Earn Less than Men, 2018"; “Survey of Earned Doctorates 2016" by the National Science Foundation and five other federal agencies; New America analysis of College Scorecard loan-repayment data; American Association of University Women, “Deeper in Debt: Women and Student Loans,” May 2018 update; Chronicle analysis</small></p>

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A version of this article appeared in the August 24, 2018, issue.
Read other items in this Students: Almanac 2018 package.
We welcome your thoughts and questions about this article. Please email the editors or submit a letter for publication.
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