Men, regardless of race or socioeconomic group, are less likely than women to get bachelor’s degrees — and among those who do, fewer complete their degrees in 4-5 years claims the Department of Education. Men also get worse grades than women. Men are going to college in greater numbers and are more likely to graduate than 20 years ago. In ’06, they make up only 42% of the nation’s college students. And with sex discrimination fading and their job opportunities widening, women are often leapfrogging men to the academic finish. “The boys are about where they were 30 years ago, but the girls are just on a tear, doing much, much better,” said Tom Mortenson, Pell Institute for the Study of Opportunity in Higher Education. (NY Times 7/9/06)