College attendance rates in southern states more closely resemble those found in the rest of the country, according to a new report on the state of education in the region. But while more Southerners as a whole are attending college than 15 years ago, progress in college attendance for students from different racial and ethnic groups have not kept pace.

According to "Educational Benchmarks, 1996," an annual report by the Southern Regional Education Board (SREB), "Large gaps persist.... Although higher percentages of Blacks and Hispanics have attended college today, their college-going rates are about two-thirds that of whites."

In the fifteen states associated with SREB, 48 percent of adults ages twenty-five through thirty-four had completed at least one year of college in 1993 -- up from 41 percent in 1981. Nationally, 51 percent had completed at least one year of college in 1993 -- up from 45 percent in 1981.

When broken down by race and ethnicity, 51 percent of white adults, 37 percent of Black adults, and 33 percent of Hispanic adults had attended college for one or more years in SREB states in 1993. While the national numbers are comparable for whites (52 percent), there is a larger discrepancy for people of color (42 percent of Blacks and 30 percent of Hispanics).

As more and more students in the South seek higher education, college preparedness has also improved. A larger percentage of high school students take college preparatory classes and admissions test scores have risen.

In 1990, more than half (54 percent) of high school graduates in the South took an academic core curriculum which included four years of English, and three years each of social studies, science and mathematics. Some 38 percent of the graduates also took at least two years of foreign languages as part of a college preparatory curriculum. In 1982, nearly 90 percent of graduates took a less rigorous academic program, with only 13 percent taking an academic core curriculum and 7 percent completing college preparatory work.