Utah's dropout rate has stayed low and steady for the past decade, according to school officials.

But information from the U.S. Census Bureau indicates that, nationally, Hispanics are less likely to go back and obtain a diploma-equivalent later in life.That doesn't surprise Richard Gomez, coordinator of educational equity for the state Office of Education. He says many Hispanics are too busy trying to support large, poor families to make it back to the classroom.

Gomez responded last week to a report issued by the Census Bureau on the rate of dropouts in U.S. schools over the past 10 years.

Nationally, the rate is up for all students in grades seven through 12. The survey also showed that fewer Hispanics go on for an equivalency degree than do blacks or Caucasians.

Overall, 34.8 percent of 15- to 17-year-olds have either dropped out or fallen behind. For blacks, the figure is 48 percent; for Hispanics 48.6 percent and whites 32 percent.

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Ten years ago, 29.1 percent of youngsters in that age group had fallen back or dropped out. The bureau said the rates for both whites and blacks increased by about 6 percent.

About 85 percent of all blacks and 87 percent of all whites eventually obtain a diploma. The graduation rate drops to 63 percent when it comes to Hispanics.

Hal Robins, a state Office of Education research consultant, said Utah's dropout rate has stayed steady at about 10 percent, meaning a student in seventh grade has about a 10 percent chance of not completing 12th grade.

That figure has stayed fairly constant for the past decade, he said. The number of students who dropped out this year, for example, was 3,106, or 1.64 percent. That's just under 10 percent if spread over six school years.

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