Have increasing college enrollment rates raised the aggregate educational attainment levels of women?
Over the past 20 years, college attainment rates among young women have increased dramatically, while rates for men remain basically unchanged. In the early 1970s, among high school graduates, about 40 percent of women aged 25-29 had completed 1 or more years of college, compared to 50 percent of similarly aged men. By 1994, a higher percentage of women than men in this age group had attended at least some college (62 versus 59 percent, table 22-2). A similar trend has occurred for female college graduates. In the early 1970s, among high school graduates, about 20 percent of women compared to 27 percent of men aged 25-29 had completed 4 or more years of college. By 1994, a similar percentage of men and women in this age group had earned a bachelor’s degree or more (table 22-3). How have women progressed with respect to the number of degrees earned? Data on the number of degrees conferred demonstrate even more clearly the educational progress of women relative to men. In 1992, more asso
