From 1990 to 1998, NCES projects a 14 percent growth in enrollments of persons over 25 and an increase of 6 percent in the number under 25. The proportion of American college students who are minorities has been increasing. In 1976, 15.7 percent were minorities, compared with 23.4 percent in 1993. Much of the change can be attributed to rising proportions of Hispanic and Asian students. The proportion of students who are black has fluctuated over the past 15 years and was 10.2 percent in 1993, slightly up from the 1980 level of 9.4 percent.
Distribution excludes nonresident aliens.
Graduate School Enrollment Graduate enrollment had been steady at about 1.3 million in the late 1970s and early 1980s, but rose about 18 percent between 1986 and 1993. Enrollment in first-professional programs, after rising very rapidly during the 1970s, stabilized in the early 1980s and showed a small increase between 1986 and 1993. Since 1984, the number of women in graduate schools has exceeded the number of men. Among part-time graduate students, enrollments for men increased by only 7 percent compared with 29 percent for women. However, men continue to seek first-professional degrees more than do women.