An annual report from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) released in May signals growing trends in higher education. Highlights of the report imply a drastically different enrollment mix from previous generations. Undergraduate enrollment among women grew by 26% during 2008, compared to a 22% increase among men. The 2008 enrollment mix among genders was 57% female and 43% male. Overall enrollment grew by 43%, and the center predicts that enrollments will continue to grow, from 16.4 million undergraduates in 2008 to 19.0 million in 2019.

Persistence and progress in undergraduate education is difficult to track, according to the report, since students may transfer from 2- to 4-year institutions or among 4-year institutions. However, among those institutions reporting 6-year graduation rates, 57% of students completed degrees within 6 years of first enrolling. Degree attainment and transfer rates were different among public and private baccalaureate institutions, with far fewer (50%) students attaining a degree from the public institution where they started than students at private institutions (65%). However, in both public and private institutions, students who began their studies at doctorate-granting institutions were more likely to earn a degree either from their first institution or overall.

Overall completion rates for 2009 indicated that 31% of 25- to 29-year-olds had completed at least a bachelor’s degree.