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The proportion of U.S. Hispanics with college degrees in 2009 was 19.2 percent, far lower than the 41.1 percent figure for the population as a whole, which indicates an alarming lack of progress.

The situation is shown in detail by The College Completion Agenda Progress Report 2011: Latino Edition, released Friday in Miami by the College Board Advocacy & Policy Center.

The report shows that a very limited proportion of Latinos go to college and even fewer earn degrees.

All that in spite of the fact that young Hispanics make up the largest minority group in K-12 schools and is the fastest-growing student segment, according to the College Board, which represents more than 5,000 universities in the United States.

"It's a very worrying situation, very serious, but it can be fixed" because the reason for it all is the lack of information among Hispanic families, Dr. Eduardo J. Padron, president of Miami-Dade College where the report was presented, told Efe.

"College completion is a national imperative," he said. "It is the key to improving our nation's economy. Each additional person with a college credential has a significant multiplier effect on the economy."

Latino families "have to make getting a college education for their children a priority, not buying a new car or making a trip to Africa," he said.

But the way things stand, he said, only a small number of Hispanic high school graduates go to college, and a large number of those "often drop out for a lack of funds and their need to get a job." READ MORE