PROVIDENCE – Rhode Island College ranked 20th among the top 25 public institutions of higher education in raising graduation rates of Hispanic students, according to an Education Trust study released last month.

The college also ranked 10th among institutions showing the greatest decreases in the graduation gap between Hispanic and Caucasian students.

The Education Trust study, “Advancing to Completion,” reported that RIC’s Hispanic-student graduation rate nearly doubled from 2004 to 2010 going from 21.9 percent to 40.7 percent. During the same time period, the gap between the Hispanic- and Caucasian-student graduation rate dropped from 23.4 percent to 6.9 percent.

RIC is the state’s only member institution of the Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities. •