Graduation rates of four-year colleges in the same Carnegie Classification category and with the same level of selectivity vary in direct proportion to their enrollment of financially needy students, according to a new report from the National Center for Education Statistics, the Education Department’s statistical arm. The report, “Placing College Graduation Rates in Context: How 4-Year College Graduation Rates Vary With Selectivity and the Size of Low-Income Enrollment,” also says that not only do women graduate at higher rates than do men, but the graduation gap between them widens as the share of needy students rises. The report also analyzes racial factors in graduation rates.

The report coincided with the release on Thursday of a study urging colleges to pay as much attention to academic achievement and graduation for minority students as to admitting them in the first place.