State report: Minority groups still face college barriers

SALEM, Ore. (AP) – A new state report says minority groups still face barriers in paying for and completing degrees at Oregon’s public colleges and universities, amid overall mixed results for college students and graduating high school seniors.

Despite a slowly rising completion rate for college students statewide, the report identified gaps along lines of race and ethnicity, with some groups more than 40 percent less likely to graduate. The Oregon Higher Education Coordinating Commission released the report Monday.

The report, which also examined affordability and other data, found completion rates differing significantly between racial and ethnic groups, with 66 percent of Asian American students and 51 percent of white students graduating within six years, but only 45 percent of black students and 37 percent of Native American students managing the same.