Hispanic graduation rate low

U.S.-born children of Hispanic immigrants are nearly as likely as whites to enroll in college, but less than half as likely to earn bachelor's degrees, according to a report released Thursday.\n"There are large numbers of Latinos who are enrolled in college," said Roberto Suro, director of the Pew Hispanic Center, which issued the report, "but who for a variety of reasons don't reach a degree."\nFor policymakers who want to increase the number of Hispanics with college degrees, those students should be the targets, Suro said.\n"They're already on campus and enrolled. The problems that are keeping them from graduation are not overwhelming."\nThe report by the nonpartisan research group suggested several possible reasons for the disparity: Hispanics are more likely than non-Hispanic whites to be enrolled part time or at two-year schools and could be the first in their families to attend college.\nOnly about 16 percent of second-generation Hispanic high school graduates ages 25 to 29 received a bachelor's degree, compared to about 37 percent of whites in that age range.