Women Outpacing Men in College Degrees

(NewsCore) - US women are nearly twice as likely as US men to earn a bachelor's degree by the time they are 23, according to a Bureau of Labor Statistics report released Thursday, Bloomberg News reported.

According to the report, nearly one in four women had finished a four-year degree by that age compared with only one in seven men. The new information was culled from a study that follows the lives of the same 9,000 people, all born between 1980 and 1984.

More women are entering college, a bureau economist explained to Bloomberg News, in response to growing opportunities in the workplace caused by a shift from manufacturing to a service economy.

"Now that there are more opportunities for women to work, we're seeing a growing number completing high school and college and going on to graduate and professional programs," economist Jay Meisenheimer told Bloomberg.

It is the first time that particular survey had a large enough sample to make a meaningful comparison between men and women finishing college degrees, Meisenheimer said.

Read more: Bloomberg News