SREB Fact Book on Higher Education, 2009

Tennessee universities are struggling to recruit male students, but across the state line in Georgia, colleges are leading Southeastern states in drawing men into degree programs.

"This is a cultural problem," said David Wright, associate executive director at the Tennessee Higher Education Commission. "People don't have role models with college degrees. It is kind of this repeating cycle."

The number of men enrolled in Tennessee colleges increased only 14 percent, or 15,300 students, since 1997. Yet Georgia schools increased their male enrollment by 32 percent, or 44,300 students, in the past decade, according to an annual report released by the Southeast Regional Education Board.

The board covers all 16 Southeastern states, from Oklahoma and Texas in the West to Maryland, Delaware and West Virginia in the North.

Of all 16 Southeastern states, Georgia has the highest enrollment growth among men, the report said. Southeastern states had an average of 33 percent enrollment growth among women and 25 percent enrollment growth among men, the report states.

Tennessee is lagging behind in recruiting men for college, in part, because it has not developed an initiative to deal with the troubling trend, Mr. Wright said.

"We don't have a statewide policy and have not chosen to break out men," he said. "We are trying to get college participation overall."

With a 45 percent graduation rate in Tennessee, most of the state's efforts are centered on heading off college dropouts, he said.

Georgia, on the other hand, decided to tackle the gender-gap issue more than eight years ago. Officials said the state decided to focus specifically on drawing minority males into higher education.

Between 2003 and 2008, since 2002, the Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia has invested nearly $650,000 into an African-American Male Initiative. The program helped black male enrollment climb 24.5 percent in the last six years, according to the University System of Georgia.

From fall 2006 to fall 2007, black male enrollment increased 7.4 percent -- the largest increase among that demographic in the system's history, according to a report by the Georgia system.

"Any program that would target a minority population would be a benefit to education," said Angela Harris, director of admissions at Dalton State College, a school within the University System of Georgia. "When you look at the numbers, the program is needed."

Mr. Wright said Tennessee higher education officials now are developing a master plan for higher education that's scheduled to be presented in January and may consider male enrollment as an initiative within the plan.

"We will set the tone for 2010 to 2015, and this may be something we need to look at," he said. "There is definitely something there."

The Tennessee Higher Education Commission also is applying for a Making Opportunity Affordable grant through the Lumina Foundation, an Indianapolis-based education group. Tennessee is competing with 11 other states to be one of five to receive the $2 million award, which could go toward improving enrollment among specific groups of student such as males.

Andrew Clark, a junior majoring in pre-medicine at UTC, said he doesn't know why so few men are entering college. Some may be lured into the military out of high schools, he said, while others may feel the need to go to work immediately without a college degree.

Still, he said, most of the men at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga were pushed toward higher education from an early age.

"I was always encouraged to go to college," he said. "That was just an automatic step."