NCES projects enrollment increases for women, people of color.

In December 2007, the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) released Projections of Education Statistics to 2016, a report detailing expected enrollments, degree attainment, and expenditure patterns in the coming decade. The report indicated that both college enrollment and degree attainment would grow for white women and men and women of color, with students of color seeing the greatest increases.

According to the report's authors, the total enrollment in degree-granting institutions will increase 17 percent between 2005 and 2016, to 20.4 million students. The report projects stunning increases in enrollment by race or ethnicity: 45 percent for Hispanic students, 34 percent for American Indian or Alaska Native students, 32 percent for Asian or Pacific Islander students, 29 percent for black students, 15 percent for nonresident alien students (of unspecified race or ethnicity), and 8 percent for white students. Women's enrollment is also predicted to increase 22 percent, as compared with 10 percent for men.

In terms of degrees conferred, the report projected a 9 percent increase in associate's degrees (14 percent for women and 2 percent for men), a 26 percent increase in bachelor's degrees (33 percent for women and 16 percent for men), a 35 percent increase in master's degrees (43 percent for women and 24 percent for men), and a 32 percent increase in doctoral degrees (54 percent for women and 10 percent for men). The report did not include degree projections by race or ethnicity.

The data summarized above represent the report's middle-range projections (high-and low-range projections are also available). To download the full report, visit nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2008060.