Reporting a 60% female to 40% male student population ratio in 2025, the University of Rhode Island has aligned with national gender trends for four-year universities, which have seen a decline in male admissions, according to The New York Times.
Declining male admissions at URI has been a trend since 2010, according to Dean Libutti, associate vice president for enrollment management and student success.
In 2010, URI had 9,104 female and 7,312 male undergraduate students, according to data from the Office of Institutional Research. In 2025, these numbers increased by about 1,000 for female students and decreased by around 300 for male students.
These trends are partially due to the increasing popularity of careers within the trades for male students, according to Libutti.
While higher education can be beneficial to men seeking interesting jobs such as jobs in engineering, science and business, students will benefit from getting a degree at a four-year university, according to Brenton DeBoef, interim dean of the College of Arts and Sciences.
Women are seemingly more equipped for college from a young age, outperforming boys by the fourth grade and closing the gap on SAT scores, according to The New York Times. This is due to the different timings in brain development in girls and boys.
Although there is no apparent behavioral difference between male and female students at the college level, it is thought that male students may have a harder time adjusting to college life than female students, according to Libutti.
“There’s a lot of students in the first semester of their first year of college… I see students, male and female, excel and I see some who need transition support,” Libutti said.
The nation’s strongest sports schools see less of a gender gap in admissions, according to DeBoef. Attending a top sports university in the nation can appeal to any gender.
The rising sophomore class of the University of Alabama, a top sports school, is 56% female, whereas the rising sophomore class at the University of Vermont is 67% female, according to The New York Times.
Recruiting athletes is not a problem for URI, according to Libutti. The university has an equal balance of both genders in sports for the 2025-2026 school year. The balanced intercollegiate sports programs that the university offers brings in a diverse population of student athletes.
“There’s an interesting culture around sports for sure that is male-appealing,” DeBoef said.
Though college enrollment of males is decreasing, multiple majors are still male dominant, such as majors in the College of Engineering and the Center for Military and Veteran Education, according to Libutti.
The Harrington School of Communication and Media’s sports media and communication major also tends to be male dominated, according to DeBoef.
Despite talk of lopsided enrollment, staff and admissions aren’t too concerned, according to Libutti and DeBoef. Instead of attempting to appeal to male applicants, URI is showing potential students that its programs are fit for everyone.
“My words of encouragement to all students, whether they be male or female, is the fact that even when you don’t know what you would like to do, a college is here to help you find that path rather than thinking you have to have a path to go to college,” Libutti said.
URI is equipped to help its students discover their interests and equip them with an essential skill set, Libutti said. Students do not need to have everything figured out.
