Overview of the State of Education

Women accounted for 57 percent of the bachelor's degrees and 62 percent of the associate degrees awarded in the 2006-7 academic year. That is one of the figures in "The Condition of Education 2009," the latest edition of an annual compilation of statistics released by the U.S. Education Department. Among the other higher education findings:

• The rate of college enrollment immediately after high school increased from 49 percent in 1972 to 67 percent by 1997, but has since fluctuated between 62 and 69 percent.
• About 58 percent of first-time students seeking a bachelor's degree or its equivalent and attending a four-year institution full time in 2000-01 completed a bachelor's degree or its equivalent at that institution within 6 years.
• The percentage of 25- to 29-year-olds who had completed a bachelor's degree or higher increased from 17 to 29 percent between 1971 and 2000 and was 31 percent in 2008.