The American Council on Education has published a study: Increasing the Success of Minority Students in Science and Technology.

Key Findings:

• In the 1995-96 academic year, 18.6 percent of African-American students and 22.7 percent of Hispanic students began college interested in majoring in STEM fields compared with 18 percent of white students and 26.4 percent of Asian-American students.
• By the spring of 2001, 62.5 percent of African Americans and Hispanics majoring in STEM fields attained a bachelor’s degree compared with 94.8 percent of Asian Americans and 86.7 percent of whites.

Students who graduated in STEM fields (by spring 2001) were:

• better prepared for postsecondary education because a larger percentage took a highly rigorous high school curriculum.
• nearly all were younger than 19 when they entered college in 1995-96
• more likely to have at least one parent with a bachelor’s degree or higher.
• came from families with higher incomes.
• more likely to work 15 hours or more a week.

Full press release on the study.