Nonmetro Hispanics trailed both Whites and metro Hispanics in rates of high school graduation, college completion, and functional literacy; their relative position on these measures worsened during the seventies, despite absolute gains. While nonmetro Hispanic school enrollment levels between the ages of 3 and 15 compared favorably with those for other residence groups in 1978, school enrollment of nonmetro Hispanics from their midteens to early twenties declined more sharply than that of Whites or metro Hispanics. Nonmetro Hispanics were also less likely to be employed, hold white-collar jobs, or earn comparable income. Such results, however, are confounded by migration patterns in the Southwest where most nonmetro Hispanics live.
