Women now make up about 58 percent of U.S. college undergraduates, according to the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center, and each year far more women are enrolling in higher education than men. The trend is especially acute for Black men, with about 138,000 fewer Black men enrolled in college last year than in 2017.

The situation has become so worrying that some colleges have started to treat men as a group that needs additional support, seeking ways to both attract male students and keep them enrolled from one year to the next.

At Malcolm X, college leaders took a close look at student data and realized that Black men were dropping out in far higher numbers than other segments of the student body. In response, they started a new mentoring program that pairs an instructor or other employee with two Black male students. This has helped. While 43 percent of Black male students dropped out between the fall of 2021 and the spring of 2022, President David Sanders said, 93 percent of the few dozen men in the mentoring program stuck around.

Still, it can be a challenge persuading men to seek academic help, said Sanders, who is Black.

“There’s an expectation for a male,” he said. “He’s supposed to be strong and not show weakness. If I can’t read or write at college level, I can’t show that.”

Colleges and universities have had a difficult time attracting students of any gender recently. Undergraduate enrollment is down by 1.11 million just since 2019, according to the clearinghouse.

The obstacles are not only financial and academic, but also cultural. One of the most difficult challenges can be breaking through the conflicting messages men and boys have been getting from family and friends for years.

Berea College in Kentucky has 18 percent fewer male students now than in 2019, and the college has started focusing on attracting Appalachian men — and keeping them there.

Read the full article about declining male enrollment by Matt Krupnick at The Hechinger Report.