Is the Education Gap Disappearing?

Since the baby-boom generation went to college en masse beginning in the late 1960s, there has been a yawning generation gap in educational attainment. Older generations--especially women--were far less likely than boomers and younger generations to have a bachelor's degree. Now that boomers are turning 65, has the education gap disappeared?

For men, it has mostly disappeared. For women, the gap remains. In fact, the gap has grown since 2000 as younger women pursue college in record numbers. In 2010, only 18.0 percent of women aged 65 or older had a bachelor's degree versus 36.9 percent of women aged 25 to 34. The percentage point gap between the women least and most likely to have a bachelor's degree was an enormous 18.9 percentage points, even larger than the 18.5 percentage point gap in 2000.

The pattern among men is different. In 2010, a substantial 28.4 percent of men aged 65 or older had a bachelor's degree. Although still the smallest proportion among age groups, it is not far from the high of 33.9 percent among men aged 55 to 64. The percentage point gap between the men least and most likely to have a bachelor's degree was just 5.5 percentage points in 2010, down from 10.9 in 2000.

For men, the generation gap in educational attainment pretty much disappeared. For women, it will disappear over the next decade or so. But a gender gap is growing. Young women are far more likely than young men to have a bachelor's degree. In the 25-to-34 age group, the gap was 8.1 percentage points in 2010 (36.9 percent of women versus 28.8 percent of men), up from just 1.3 percentage points in 2000.