"More women than men are going to college," said Peggy Lorah, director of the Center for Women Students.

She added that Penn State might be an exception to that rule because the university is "heavy" in engineering, agricultural sciences and other areas in which there are typically more men than women.

Nationally, Lorah said there are reasons why women are now outnumbering men at colleges.

"Many men have figured out that they can go into technical schools ... and do a two-year program and be out and make money sooner. Men may be more keyed into the technological trades and positions," she said.

"I think that's a pretty recent trend," she said. "Men are making different choices than going to college."

Within some specific colleges, the gender gap is more noticeable, and there are initiatives in place attempting to even the numbers of men and women.

At the School of Information Sciences and Technology, where nearly 82 percent of students are male, a group called Women in IST is striving to attract more women to the field of information sciences.

"All the Women in IST have made the commitment to go back to their high schools to recruit," said Lynette Kvasny, assistant professor in IST.

Nationally, the U.S. Department of Education reported that about 72 percent of students in computer science were men.

On the opposite end of the gender gap is the field of education, where 76 percent of students are women.

At Penn State, the numbers are similar, with 74 percent female students in the College of Education.

Horst Von Dorpowski, assistant dean for the college, said education attracts more women for a number of reasons. He said women are more often homemakers and are attracted by teaching because of perks like having summers off from work.

While there are no direct initiatives to attract more men to education, Von Dorpowski said the College of Education tries to diversify its faculty. Specifically, he said the college has brought more male faculty members into elementary education, where women outnumber men at a much higher rate than in secondary education.

He said historical perspective also accounts for the current gender gap in education, particularly at the elementary level.

"Women have seen themselves as caregivers of children. They see teaching in the elementary schools as an extension of the childcare-giving role," he said.

Kvasny said the gender gap in fields related to information technology can actually work in favor of women.

She said companies like Lockheed Martin have initiatives to recruit women. "They've sent down people to do targeted recruiting just with Women in IST," she said.

The gender gap seen at college continues into the workforce, she explained.

"They're really getting snapped up by employers," she said of the women graduating in IST.