For the first time since 1940, women are more likely to graduate with a bachelor's degree than men. That, according to U.S. Census Bureau data dissecting the graduation rate among students age 25 and over during the last decade.
Researchers compared data from a 2005 survey with last year's figures and found a 1.4 percent decrease in men (29.9) who earned the degree. Women, however, rose by 4.2, to a 30.2 percent chance of having a bachelor's degree or higher, marking the first time they were statistically superior to men.
"Nearly 75 years after the Census Bureau began collecting these statistics, the educational attainment of our population has increased to 30 percent -and the gender balance has shifted," the study read. "For the first time since measurement began in 1940, women were more likely than men to have a bachelor's degree."
Apart from New Jersey, every state where men held a higher graduation rate came in western states: Arizona, Utah, Idaho, Washington, and California. A greater portion of women have attained bachelor's degrees in most other states, and held a two percentage point advantage in eight of them, ranging from Alaska to New Mexico to New Hampshire.
While researchers didn't elaborate on what brought about the shift, they opine some it is a result of "younger people replacing older generations." Based on their finding over the last five years, it appears they guessed right.
Men and women between 25 and 34 years of age have nearly identical enrollment rates in that span, partly because degree inequality is less of an issue now than it was 75 years ago.