A new study shows college women are struggling more than their male counterparts to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic.

The research, one of the first comparing how COVID-19 affected female and male college students, adds to trends seen in high school and even younger students regarding the disproportionate impact the pandemic had on girls.

Mental health and learning loss are some of the big reasons researchers suspect for the difference, and they urge schools to take action to help struggling students.

The study, out of the University of North Carolina Greensboro, found first-year female college students have greater struggles than male students in both passing classes and accumulating credits.

Whereas male students have not seen a big difference academically before and after the pandemic, women at community colleges are earning almost one fewer credit per year and women at four-year universities are earning 0.6 fewer credits per year.

“We were able to see students' academic records from high school........

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