A r c h i v e d  I n f o r m a t i o n

• Total college enrollment is expected to reach a record 14.9 million students in 1999. Between 1999 and 2009, full-time enrollment is projected to increase by close to 14 percent, and part-time enrollment is projected to increase by 4 percent.

• Undergraduate enrollment is expected to rise from 12.8 million to 14.3 million between 1999 and 2009, an increase of 11 percent.

• The number of high school graduates is expected to reach 2.9 million by the year 2009, an increase of 19 percent over 1998. About 66 percent of all 1998 high school graduates went directly on to college in fall 1998.

• About 37 percent of all 18- to 24-year-olds enrolled in a 2- or 4-year college or university in 1998.

• About 1.2 million degrees are expected to be awarded at the bachelor's degree level in 1999-2000, up 11 percent from 1989-90.

• The percentage of students taking chemistry rose from 40 percent of students in 1986 to 56 percent in 1996, a rise of 16 percentage points.

• The percentage of 17-year-olds who completed higher-level math courses?algebra II and precalculus or calculus?rose between 1978 and 1996.

• Black and Hispanic students who had high school curriculums of rigorous intensity and high quality and completed a high-level math course were more likely to complete a bachelor's degree program than their peers who pursued a less rigorous curriculum.
• Between 1984 and 1996, the number of students who took Advanced Placement exams increased markedly, rising from 50 to 131 per 1,000 12^th-graders.

• Women have outnumbered men on college campuses since 1979. In 1997, about 56 percent of all college students were women.
• In 1999-2000, it is expected that women will receive 56 percent of all bachelor's degrees and 58 percent of all master's degrees.
• The proportion of minority students attending college has been rising steadily, from 20 percent of all college students in 1990 to 27 percent in 1997.
• Colleges offer diverse programs of study and learning opportunities to help students meet personal goals. For example, in 1997 about 14 percent of black students chose to attend Historically Black Colleges and Universities, a total of 222,000 students.

• More than half of the students attending 4-year institutions pay less than $4,000 in tuition and fees, and almost three-quarters pay less than $8,000. The average cost in tuition, fees, room and board at a 4-year public institution in 1998 was $7,769.

• Average aid per full-time equivalent student has increased from $3,614 in 1990 to $6,085 in 1999, a 68 percent increase. In part, this increase reflects larger Pell Grant awards for needy students. Since 1993, the maximum award has increased 36 percent to $3,125, and now covers about 92 percent of tuition and fees at a public 4-year college.

• In 1999, approximately 13 million Americans are eligible for the Hope and Lifetime Learning tax credits for postsecondary training and education, totaling $7 billion in aid.

• People with college degrees earn more money than those with high school diplomas or the equivalent. In 1998, 25- to 34-year-olds with a bachelor's degree earned $14,000 more ($36,720 compared to $22,624) than high school graduates, on average. The bachelor's degree recipients earned more than twice as much as high school dropouts who earned an average of less than $16,000.

• There is a significant difference?45 percent?between the earnings of 25- to-34-year-old men and women, despite some closure of the gap over the past quarter century. In 1998, males with bachelor's degrees had an annual average income of $43,447. Females with bachelor's degrees saw their income rise, but in 1998 their average income stood at only $30,026?$13,400 less than that of their male counterparts.

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College Enrollment to Surge: 1999-2009