There are more students graduating from college in the United States than ever before - but Hispanic youngsters are being left behind.

The figures from the Census Bureau show that there has been a further increase in the number of people gaining degrees, with the trend expected to continue.

Now 25.2% of over-25 year olds have degrees - compared with 21.3% a decade ago, and only 4.6% in 1940.

But the rise, based on data from March 1999, has not been evenly spread - with Hispanic pupils less than half as likely as their white counterparts to attend college.

The statistics indicate that black youngsters are also less likely to gain degrees, but are more successful than their Hispanic peers.

Linda Chavez, president of the Center for Equal Opportunity, said that there needed to be greater efforts to discourage Hispanic youngsters from getting jobs at an early age and missing out on higher education.

Earning power

The figures show considerable regional differences in the number of college graduates in the population - ranging from the District of Columbia, which has 41%, to the lowest, Arkansas, which has 17.3%.

There is also a record high in the number of pupils graduating from high school - rising to 83% of the age group.

And among the 25 to 29 year olds, this pass rate has risen to 90% among women and 86% among men, suggesting that the overall figure for high school graduation will continue to rise in the next few years.

But again, the data indicates a pattern of underachievement among Hispanic and black pupils, with the ethnic breakdown showing that 84.3% of white pupils graduate from high school, 77% of black pupils and only 56.1% of Hispanics.

The census material also suggests that gaining a degree is a sound financial investment - as average earnings for graduates stood at $43,782 when the data was compiled, while non-graduate average earnings were $23,594.