Most American states are falling behind other industrialized nations in terms of the proportion of their adults who hold a college degree, according to a state-by-state report being released today by several U.S. higher-education groups. And the gaps, the report says, are expected to widen.

The report, “Adding It Up: State Challenges for Increasing College Access and Success,” offers data on all 50 states in an attempt to provide a glimpse at how well they are helping residents gain access to college and earn postsecondary degrees.

The state profiles include projections of demographic changes from 2005 to 2025, information about educational attainment by race and ethnicity, and data about students’ progress to and through college.

The data were prepared by the National Center for Higher Education Management Systems, and the project was supported by the Lumina Foundation for Education and Jobs for the Future.

In general, the report concludes, the United States will have to “ramp it up” just to keep pace with other leading nations on measures of degree completion.

If American patterns of degree completion do not significantly change, about 48 million new undergraduate degrees will be awarded nationwide from 2005 to 2025, according to the center. To keep up with other nations, though, 64 million bachelor’s degrees would have to be conferred over that time, the report says.

Only eight states are on track to reach the level of educational attainment needed by 2025 to compete with other top-performing nations and meet work-force demands, the report says.

And all states face demographic challenges as they strive to increase the educational levels of their residents. For instance, the report notes, the populations of black, Hispanic, and other non-white racial groups that have been historically underrepresented in higher education are projected to grow in all of the states. —Sara Hebel