College Uncovered

Something has been happening on college campuses that’s as surprising as it is dramatic: The number of women enrolled has overtaken the number of men.

Women now outnumber men by about 60 percent to 40 percent, and that gap keeps getting wider. And men who do enroll are also more likely to drop out.

There are a lot of reasons for this. Boys get lower grades than girls, on average, in elementary and middle schools. They’re more likely to be held back or face disciplinary actions. They’re less likely to graduate from high school. And more men than women go into the skilled trades, instead of getting college degrees.

Among the results: Universities and colleges now tip the scales for men in admission to try to keep the genders even.

But as things keep falling out of balance, there are impacts on the financial success for men and on economic growth for everybody.

We’ll hear from men and women students about what that’s like right now, and from colleges about what they’re trying to do about it.