Recent high school graduates are entering college in greater numbers than ever before. There were more than 9.3 million high school graduates ages 18 to 24 attending college in 1998, compared with 5.8 million in 1970.

College enrollment rates have increased among both men and women, but especially among women, who are almost twice as likely to enter college today than they were in 1970. In 1991, the percentage of young women who were enrolled in college was, for the first time, higher than the percentage of young men in college. In recent years the gender gap has widened, and by 1998 there were half a million more young women than men enrolled in college.