Student Enrollment numbers vary among colleges, but the male-to-female ratio within those figures can be noticeable.
Pitt-Johnstown sophomore and business major Monica Drutch said there are noticeably more males than females in her class, which she said she views as a challenge.
“Overall, it doesn’t normally bother me. I find it somewhat fun to be one of the few girls in a class full of males. It gives me a chance to show them up,” said Drutch.
Pitt-Johnstown’s student total is close to 3,000. Of those 3,000 students, 52 percent are males and 48 percent are females – a fairly equal proportion.
Similar to Pitt-Johnstown, Pennsylvania State University also enrolls more males than females.
Penn State is much larger than Pitt-Johnstown, with over 38,000 undergraduate students and contains 54 percent males and 46 percent females.
The Penn State website contains a disclaimer pertaining to gender: “We believe diversity includes appreciation and respect of all differences in race and ethnicity and gender and sexual orientation.”
Penn State senior Manny Grana said he found it shocking that his college accepts more males than females because he thinks his classes contain equal numbers of both males and females.
Since 1980, women have been a more dominant gender in college enrollments, and this is reflected in some universities’ admission statistics, like the Indiana University of Pennsylvania.
IUP is just shy of having 13,000 enrolled students, with 57 percent of them female.
IUP’s admission secretary Chris Kitas said the larges, most popular, major on campus is education.
“Teaching and nursing emerge as female-dominant majors, but more males appear each year,” said Kitas.
St. Francis University may have a different history than Pitt-Johnstown, Penn Sate or IUP, but St. Francis’ enrollment numbers mirror a female-dominant trend.
St. Francis, until the early 1960s, was open only for female enrollment. Since then, the rules and, consequently, the numbers, have changed.
This four-year university has fewer than 2,000 undergraduate students enrolled, with 41 percent being male and 59 percent being female.
St. Francis registrar’s office assistant Steve Rombouts said he has noticed an increase in accepted female applicants.
“I’ve worked at the campus for over 15 years and each year females overpower males by a good 8 percent,” said Rombouts.
Men and women do not attend only four-year universities though.
Pennsylvania Highlands Community College admissions directors enroll about 1,200 students, and the male-to-female ratio is relatively equal. Kate Deter, Penn Highlands secretary, said the equality has remained steady.
Similarly, Westmoreland County Community College students total a number close to 5,500 with an almost equal gender ratio.
Freshman Westmoreland nursing student Amy Mazzoni said she noticed a relatively equal male-to-female ratio for the college as a whole, but said she noticed a gender difference among nursing students.
“I definitely expected the ratio to be higher (in favor of) women, but I didn’t expect the percentage of women would be so high that it was surprising.
“The male nurse students in my classes were just as good as the females; there should be more of them,” said Mazzoni.