WASHINGTON — Most states are doing better preparing students for higher education than they did a decade ago, but that modest progress is eclipsed by rising tuition costs, enduring enrollment gaps between rich and poor, and a decrease in global competitiveness, a new report finds.

Utah was one of five states whose performance declined in three of the five criteria used in grading the higher education institutions.

The situation nationally could worsen if states don't do more to prepare high school students for college and make college more affordable and accessible to Americans of all backgrounds, according to the "Measuring Up 2008" report from the National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education.

"Family wealth and income, race and ethnicity, and geography play too great a role in determining which Americans receive a high school education that prepares them for college, which ones enroll in college, and which ones complete certificate or degree programs," said James B. Hunt Jr., former North Carolina governor and chairman of the center's board.

The center graded states from A to F in five areas — college enrollment, college affordability, college completion rates, how well the states prepare high school students for college and percentage of residents who are college educated.

The center found that:

• Only New York and Tennessee stayed the same or improved in all categories. Another 29 states remained the same or improved in four categories.

• Five states — Colorado, Iowa, North Dakota, Utah and Wyoming — fared worst, with declining performance in three categories.

• Every state got an F for affordability except California, which got a C-minus.

• The rising cost of college has been especially hard on poor and middle-class Americans, who pay a higher share of their income for tuition and fees than they did in 1999. This year, 12 states announced or enacted tuition hikes following state budget cuts.

• Most states got at least a B for how long it took college students to earn a degree. New Mexico got a D. Alaska and Nevada got an F.

• Most states in the South and the Northwest got poor grades based on the percentage of students enrolled in two- and four-year colleges. Only Arizona and Iowa got an A.

Terry Hartle of the American Council on Education, which represents higher education institutions, said some of the report's conclusions are misleading.

Giving just one state a passing grade for affordability is absurd when Maryland has frozen tuition for the past four years and Nevada charges less for four-year institutions ($2,743) than California ($4,600), he said.

"If every state gets an F, the scale is so inaccurate as to render it largely meaningless," Hartle said. "It's shock value."

---

E-mail: lking@gns.gannett.com