Comment by todd8

The headline exaggerates the gains for women. From the article:

    This year: total. = 135992 up 31% over last year
               female =  38195 up 39% over last year

From this we can calculate last years numbers:

    Last year: total  = 103811
               female =  27478

Comparing total participation:

    This year: female/total = 26.5%
    Last year: female/total = 28.1%

African-Americans and Hispanic and Latino students made more robust gains. The gains for women might not even be statistically significant.