Racial diversity in graduate-school classrooms fails to reflect that of the country, laments a report released today by the Council of Graduate Schools.

The council has recently lauded modest gains in minority enrollment, and the issue was the subject of a key session at the council’s annual meeting, in December.

But this new report, “Broadening Participation in Graduate Education,” observes that Hispanic and African-American students remain underrepresented in graduate study — especially in science and engineering, where each group makes up less than 10 percent of graduate students and less than 5 percent of new Ph.D.’s.

“Now is the time to reverse this troubling trend by fully developing our domestic talent pool, particularly people from traditionally underrepresented groups, in order to create the highly skilled work-force necessary to compete in the 21st-century economy,” the council said in a press release. To that end, it suggests several measures, including expanding fellowships, traineeships, and loan-forgiveness programs. —Steve Kolowich