Men's share of bachelor's, master's and doctor's degrees
Men's share of the bachelor's, master's and doctor's degrees conferred by U.S. colleges, 1976-77 to 2022-23, from NCES Digest tables. Men fell below half of bachelor's and master's degrees between 1980-81 and 1990-91, and below half of doctor's degrees between 2000-01 and 2008-09. The shares include nonresident students. Men's own degree counts rose at every level; women's rose faster. Associate degrees and years before 1977 are not shown.
What does it show?
Men earned 54% of bachelor's and master's degrees and 79% of doctor's degrees in 1976-77; by 2022-23 they earned about four in ten at each level, and the doctoral share has fallen every year since 2013.
Methodology
Degrees conferred to men as a percentage of all degrees conferred (men plus women) by postsecondary institutions in the 50 states and D.C. that take part in Title IV federal aid programs, and U.S. service academies; U.S. citizens, permanent residents and nonresidents together, as in the Digest's own totals. From NCES Digest of Education Statistics 2024 tables 322.20 (bachelor's), 323.20 (master's) and 324.20 (doctor's), drawn from the HEGIS and IPEDS Completions surveys. The tables report 1976-77, 1980-81, 1990-91, 1999-2000, 2000-01 and every year from 2008-09; lines are drawn straight between the reported years, marked by dots. Doctor's degrees include research, professional (such as M.D. and J.D.) and other doctorates. A falling share is not a falling count: men earn more degrees at every level than in 1976-77, but women's degrees grew faster. Nonresident graduates are mostly men at the master's and doctor's levels, so international enrollment moves those lines: the 2022-23 rise in men's master's share came from nonresident degrees, and among U.S. citizens and permanent residents it was essentially unchanged. Years label the spring of each academic year; 2022-23 is provisional. The dashed line marks parity.