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Students by Gender, Race, and Ethnicity, by Sector, Fall 2010 and Fall 2016

Almanac 2018
August 19, 2018

Women, who have outnumbered men at college for four decades, continued to represent a majority of college students in the fall of 2016, but their numbers fell by nearly 100,000 from 2010. Over the same period, male enrollment grew by more than 12,000. Overall enrollment fell by more than 87,000 over the six-year period. That loss took place at two-year public institutions and two-year for-profit institutions, while enrollment in other sectors grew. The overall representation of all minorities has increased substantially from 2010 to 2016. This can largely be credited to the growth in enrollment of Hispanic students, by nearly 850,000. Asian enrollment also grew, by nearly 100,000. But three groups of minorities lost ground. The number of American Indian and Alaska Natives enrolled in college declined by 22 percent over the six-year period, the number of Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islanders dropped by more than 7 percent, and the number of blacks fell by almost 5 percent.

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Women, who have outnumbered men at college for four decades, continued to represent a majority of college students in the fall of 2016, but their numbers fell by nearly 100,000 from 2010. Over the same period, male enrollment grew by more than 12,000. Overall enrollment fell by more than 87,000 over the six-year period. That loss took place at two-year public institutions and two-year for-profit institutions, while enrollment in other sectors grew. The overall representation of all minorities has increased substantially from 2010 to 2016. This can largely be credited to the growth in enrollment of Hispanic students, by nearly 850,000. Asian enrollment also grew, by nearly 100,000. But three groups of minorities lost ground. The number of American Indian and Alaska Natives enrolled in college declined by 22 percent over the six-year period, the number of Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islanders dropped by more than 7 percent, and the number of blacks fell by almost 5 percent.


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.


By gender and citizenship status

YearTotalMaleFemale Nonresident
aliens
4-year public institutions
All students, fall 2016 8,727,756 3,948,182 4,779,574 541,867
Percentage of all students 100.0% 45.2% 54.8% 6.2%
All students, fall 2010 8,339,230 3,753,983 4,585,247 364,391
Percentage of all students 100.0% 45.0% 55.0% 4.4%
4-year private nonprofit institutions
All students, fall 2016 4,027,240 1,702,784 2,324,456 339,676
Percentage of all students 100.0% 42.3% 57.7% 8.4%
All students, fall 2010 3,813,352 1,613,651 2,199,701 221,082
Percentage of all students 100.0% 42.3% 57.7% 5.8%
4-year for-profit institutions
All students, fall 2016 981,633 337,532 644,101 20,851
Percentage of all students 100.0% 34.4% 65.6% 2.1%
All students, fall 2010 912,248 321,375 590,873 12,428
Percentage of all students 100.0% 35.2% 64.8% 1.4%
2-year public institutions
All students, fall 2016 5,841,522 2,554,892 3,286,630 90,623
Percentage of all students 100.0% 43.7% 56.3% 1.6%
All students, fall 2010 6,532,316 2,808,006 3,724,310 85,881
Percentage of all students 100.0% 43.0% 57.0% 1.3%
2-year private nonprofit institutions
All students, fall 2016 50,557 14,497 36,060 1,002
Percentage of all students 100.0% 28.7% 71.3% 2.0%
All students, fall 2010 48,844 17,668 31,176 866
Percentage of all students 100.0% 36.2% 63.8% 1.8%
2-year for-profit institutions
All students, fall 2016 198,612 67,466 131,146 2,108
Percentage of all students 100.0% 34.0% 66.0% 1.1%
All students, fall 2010 268,755 98,321 170,434 2,005
Percentage of all students 100.0% 36.6% 63.4% 0.7%
All institutions
All students, fall 2016 19,827,320 8,625,353 11,201,967 996,127
Percentage of all students 100.0% 43.5% 56.5% 5.0%
All students, fall 2010 19,914,745 8,613,004 11,301,741 686,653
Percentage of all students 100.0% 43.2% 56.8% 3.4%

•••

By race and ethnicity

YearTotalAmerican
Indian or
Alaska Native
AsianBlackHispanicNative
Hawaiian or
Pacific
Islander
White2 or
more races
4-year public institutions
All students, fall 2016 8,727,756 53,517 583,147 920,616 1,332,666 17,900 4,699,441 300,861
Percentage of all students 100.0% 0.7% 7.4% 11.6% 16.9% 0.2% 59.4% 3.8%
All students, fall 2010 8,339,230 71,001 504,993 916,861 911,197 19,275 4,995,668 125,452
Percentage of all students 100.0% 0.9% 6.7% 12.2% 12.1% 0.3% 66.2% 1.7%
4-year private nonprofit institutions
All students, fall 2016 4,027,240 18,293 234,794 441,724 377,450 9,639 2,210,516 116,695
Percentage of all students 100.0% 0.5% 6.9% 13.0% 11.1% 0.3% 64.8% 3.4%
All students, fall 2010 3,813,352 22,461 204,472 427,964 263,946 8,445 2,236,383 51,640
Percentage of all students 100.0% 0.7% 6.4% 13.3% 8.2% 0.3% 69.6% 1.6%
4-year for-profit institutions
All students, fall 2016 981,633 7,372 30,825 238,497 114,825 5,436 359,441 24,052
Percentage of all students 100.0% 0.9% 3.9% 30.6% 14.7% 0.7% 46.1% 3.1%
All students, fall 2010 912,248 6,808 22,422 216,172 76,456 2,727 354,501 14,624
Percentage of all students 100.0% 1.0% 3.2% 31.2% 11.0% 0.4% 51.1% 2.1%
2-year public institutions
All students, fall 2016 5,841,522 53,309 339,990 762,791 1,393,810 15,721 2,775,578 187,036
Percentage of all students 100.0% 1.0% 6.2% 13.8% 25.2% 0.3% 50.2% 3.4%
All students, fall 2010 6,532,316 70,423 358,381 922,244 1,116,429 22,288 3,464,403 94,048
Percentage of all students 100.0% 1.2% 5.9% 15.2% 18.5% 0.4% 57.3% 1.6%
2-year private nonprofit institutions
All students, fall 2016 50,557 1,156 1,276 16,698 6,282 266 21,168 1,307
Percentage of all students 100.0% 2.4% 2.6% 34.7% 13.0% 0.6% 44.0% 2.7%
All students, fall 2010 48,844 1,151 1,203 11,849 5,791 215 23,699 698
Percentage of all students 100.0% 2.6% 2.7% 26.6% 13.0% 0.5% 53.1% 1.6%
2-year for-profit institutions
All students, fall 2016 198,612 2,074 6,922 55,962 46,304 1,058 66,562 5,137
Percentage of all students 100.0% 1.1% 3.8% 30.4% 25.2% 0.6% 36.2% 2.8%
All students, fall 2010 268,755 2,196 7,522 67,535 48,980 877 109,083 3,858
Percentage of all students 100.0% 0.9% 3.1% 28.1% 20.4% 0.4% 45.4% 1.6%
All institutions
All students, fall 2016 19,827,320 135,721 1,196,954 2,436,288 3,271,337 50,020 10,132,706 635,088
Percentage of all students 100.0% 0.8% 6.7% 13.6% 18.3% 0.3% 56.7% 3.6%
All students, fall 2010 19,914,745 174,040 1,098,993 2,562,625 2,422,799 53,827 11,183,737 290,320
Percentage of all students 100.0% 1.0% 6.2% 14.4% 13.6% 0.3% 62.9% 1.6%

Note: This table shows all full- and part-time undergraduate and graduate students at two-year and four-year degree-granting institutions in the United States that are eligible to receive Title IV federal financial aid. Figures by gender, race, and ethnicity for the fall of 2016 are compared with those for the fall of 2010, which is the earliest year for which comparable racial data were available. Percentages of nonresident aliens and people whose race or ethnicity was unknown are shown as their share of the total, but percentages of the seven racial or ethnic groups were calculated by dividing them into the total minus the numbers of nonresident aliens and people whose race was unknown. The percentages whose race was unknown, which ranged in 2016 from 2.8 percent at two-year private nonprofit institutions to 18.4 percent at four-year for-profit institutions, are not shown. “Hispanic” students may be of any race. Questions or comments on the Almanac should be sent to the Almanac editor.

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Source: Chronicle analysis of U.S. Department of Education data

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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