Table 5 considers the extent to which years of formal education -- another indicator of SES -- is patterned by race. It takes an even longer view than the poverty data by presenting educational attainment from 1960 to 2006.44 The data reveal remarkable increases in education over time with the percentage of blacks completing high school increasing fourfold from 20% in 1960 to 82% in 2006. Similarly, the percentage of whites completing high school doubled from 43% in 1960 to 86% in 2006. In 2006, the disparity between whites and blacks in high school graduation rates had narrowed dramatically from earlier years. The Asian and Pacific Islander population had a rate of high school graduation that was slightly higher than the white population, but only 60% of Hispanic adults had graduated from high school – a rate that was markedly lower than that of all other racial groups. There is also striking ethnic variation in high school completion within the Latino population with Cubans (80%) and Puerto Ricans (74%) having markedly higher high school graduation rates than Mexicans (54%).
