Joshua Bay
September 25, 2026
Speakers at the Symposium on Young American Men examine why fewer men are pursuing college and what higher ed can do to better engage them.
Women have outnumbered men on college campuses for decades, but the divide extends beyond who enrolls. Young men are also less likely than young women to earn a degree of any kind, raising questions about why some men are opting out of higher education and what colleges can do to better engage and support them.
The gap comes as colleges are confronting broader questions about the value of a degree, the rising cost of attendance and whether traditional higher education is meeting the needs of today’s students. For institutions seeking to enroll and retain more men, the challenge is not only understanding what is keeping them from college but identifying what changes could make higher education a more attractive and successful path.