Why fewer young men are choosing to pursue college degrees

College enrollment among young Americans has been declining over the past decade. That decrease is mostly driven by fewer young men pursuing degrees. A Pew Research study finds about one million fewer young men now enrolled in college compared to 2011. Geoff Bennett took a closer look at why for our series, Rethinking College.

Read the Full Transcript

Geoff Bennett: Now to our second story, about who is going to college.

Enrollment among young Americans has been declining over the past decade, that decrease mostly driven by fewer young men pursuing degrees. A Pew Research study finds there’s about one million fewer young men now enrolled in college compared to 2011.

We took a closer look at why. That’s the second part of our focus tonight on Rethinking College.

Tomorrow morning, in Brentwood, New York, Yordi Velasquez will graduate high school. But like a growing number of young men, college isn’t in his immediate plan.

Yordi Velasquez, High School Student: I started looking to college a little too late, and I couldn’t decide on what I wanted to do. I didn’t know where I would get the money from. And I just think it’d be better if I started working immediately.

Geoff Bennett: Raised by a single mother who also cares for his disabled brother, Velasquez says he plans to become a certified HVAC technician. He hasn’t ruled out going to college one day, but says it simply doesn’t make sense right now.

Yordi Velasquez: The fact that I would have to pay even though I don’t know what I want to do, and that I might not even get a job in the field that I want.

Geoff Bennett: He’s not alone. Last year among high school graduates in the U.S., only 57 percent of men have enrolled in college. That’s compared to 65 percent of women.

It’s a trend that dates back nearly three decades. Every year since 1996, women have entered college at higher rates than men.

Richard Reeves, Author, “Of Boys and Men: Why the Modern Male Is Struggling, Why It Matters, and What to Do about It”: The education system as a whole doesn’t seem to be working quite as well for boys as it is for girls.

Geoff Bennett: Richard Reeves is the author of “Of Boys and Men: Why the Modern Male Is Struggling, Why It Matters, and What to Do about It.”

Men are falling behind in education. The education gap is bigger now than it was back in 1972, when Title IX passed. What accounts for that?

Richard Reeves: The main reason for that is that, it’s through the education system, girls are outperforming boys. So you can see it from the beginning from kindergarten all the way through high school.

And so if you look at, for example, high school GPA, which is a very good measure of success, take the top 10 percent of high school students. Two-thirds of them are girls. That obviously affects what’s going to happen in the college system too.

Geoff Bennett: Today, men make up only 42 percent of undergraduate students. And for young men of color, the gap is especially alarming.

There are now 50,000 fewer Black men enrolled in college compared to pre-pandemic levels.

Roderick Carey, University of Delaware: I think that college is becoming a tough sell for a lot of men, not necessarily because college isn’t a compelling idea, but rather because there are so many other competing factors that might be equally, if not more so desirable.

Geoff Bennett: Roderick Carey is an assistant professor at the University of Delaware. He studies how Black and Latino adolescent boys experience school. Carey says, for the young men he works with, problems often begin long before college.

Roderick Carey: Black and Latino boys grew up in a society that stereotypes them as non-academic, as socially threatening, and many of those types of stereotypes shape how their educators engage with them in schools.

Geoff Bennett: More women than men now have college degrees, according to U.S. census data, and they’re more likely to graduate within four years compared to men. It’s led some colleges to target male students as a group in need of extra support.

Jonathan Koppell, President, Montclair State University: We’re not pretending the problem doesn’t exist. We’re trying to address it on.

Geoff Bennett: Jonathan Koppell is president of Montclair State University.

How do you craft a program that works to help men that doesn’t come at the expense of women?

Jonathan Koppell: Oh, I don’t think that this is a matter of either/or, and I don’t think this is a matter of putting the needs of female students second. I think it’s a matter of asking the basic question, why do we see differential graduation rates when we sort by gender and race? And that’s where you really start to see this gap widen.

Geoff Bennett: More than half of Montclair State students come from under represented groups, and men make up just 40 percent of total enrollment.

So what are some of the consequences if more young men choose not to go to college?

Jonathan Koppell: There’s so many consequences. I don’t think that means everybody should get a four-year degree. I don’t think college is for everyone.

But if you look at the data, the data says, in terms of income, in terms of health, in terms of happiness, in terms of life satisfaction, your odds are better with a four-year degree.

Geoff Bennett: In 2022, Montclair State launched what’s known as the Male Enrollment and Graduation Alliance, a task force that’s now developing programs that aim to recruit and retain more men.

Danny Jean, Associate Provost for Educational Opportunity and Success Programs, Montclair State University: So if you’re experiencing any level of instability in your life, you are not alone.

Geoff Bennett: Danny Jean, the university’s assistant provost for special programs, helps lead the initiative. Last spring, he welcomed 300 high schoolers from nearby cities in New Jersey. For many, it was their first time on a college campus.

Danny Jean: Please give all of them a round of applause.

Geoff Bennett: For Jean, who grew up in inner-city Newark and later earned a Ph.D., it was a chance to share his own story.

Danny Jean: My family moved over 12 times before I graduated from high school. We were actually homeless at one time. I had to move with family members.

I graduated high school with a 1.9 GPA, a teacher that told me I wouldn’t be alive to see 25, alcoholics in my family, drug users in my family. So this work is very personal for me.

Geoff Bennett: So what have you found that works? What’s the key to providing access and then once students do get admitted making sure that they’re successful?

Danny Jean: They really need to understand the benefit of college and help them understand exactly what college can offer and be able to map out what their plan is beyond high school.

MAN: Coming here was tough freshman year.

Geoff Bennett: And beyond academic help, Jean says some of the men also need social and emotional support once they arrive on campus. He meets often with a student organization that aims to do just that.

Ikenna Onyegbule, Montclair State University: Brotherhood has allowed me to be confident.

Geoff Bennett: Ikenna Onyegbule and Nyron Mitchell help lead this group known as the Brotherhood.

Ikenna Onyegbule: So it’s important that men get support from each other, because we don’t get it enough. And everybody bottles in their emotions. You have to keep this persona of being a tough guy.

And it wasn’t until I got here until I figured that that’s not the way to go.

Nyron Mitchell, Montclair State University: In the future, I want young men to realize is, it’s like it’s OK to come out your comfort zone. When you come out your comfort zone, at the end of the day, when you walk in that stage in May, you’re going to be grateful for it.

Geoff Bennett: Last month, Mitchell did graduate with a degree in family science. Ikenna, a business administration major, will do the same later this year.

They say, beyond the degree, college is already paying off.

Ikenna Onyegbule: Professionalism, time management, respect among others, how to work with other people, all of that you can learn in college if you do college the right way.

Geoff Bennett: Meantime, back in Brentwood, New York, Yordi Velasquez says he’s comfortable with his own decision.

Yordi Velasquez: I feel like I’m entering a new chapter of my life, and it’s always exciting. I have always wondered what it’s like to be a grown-up, so now I get to experience it.

Geoff Bennett: As colleges around the country try to figure out why so many young men are choosing a different path.