Then why aren’t they going at the same rates? The time when women needed college more than men has passed. Check out the ACT results, especially in states such as Colorado and Illinois, where all students must take the exam (thereby giving a fair, direct comparison).
I’ve run into this with the ACT before. The literacy gender gaps favoring girls that are so striking on state tests show up on the ACT as moderate. The math gaps that on state tests show up as near-negligible (in many states girls are tied or slightly ahead) appear on the ACT as strongly favoring boys. A mystery.