Washington ( CNN ) -- Twenty-one-year-old Erica Ruiz plans to graduate from college in the spring with a degree in psychology and continue on to graduate school . Her family is from Mexico , but she and her two brothers were born in the United States . `` My parents always encouraged me to go to college and get educated because they did n't get the opportunity , '' she said of her mother and father , both farm workers . Ruiz is part of a recent increase in the number of Hispanics attending college in the United States -- a figure that spiked last year and even surpassed that of young blacks , according to a study released last week by the Pew Hispanic Center , part of the Pew Research Center . In 2010 , approximately 1.8 million Hispanic students aged 18 to 24 were enrolled in college , the study showed . In the same age group , there were 1.7 million African-American students enrolled , although when students of all ages were counted , blacks outnumbered Hispanics . Analyzing U.S. Census Bureau data , the researchers found that in 2010 , Hispanic enrollment surged by 24 % over the previous year . For that same time period , college enrollment for blacks and Asians also increased , but not as dramatically as that of Hispanics . Although the enrollment of white students decreased to 7.7 million , the study showed , whites still make up the vast majority of college students . Researcher Richard Fry , who worked on the Pew study , attributes the gains in Hispanic enrollment to the overall population increase of Hispanics and an increase in the number of Hispanics graduating from high school , making them eligible to go to college . `` Improving the educational attainment of young Hispanics would improve the long-term socioeconomic prospects of the nation 's largest minority group , '' Fry said . `` It would not only be beneficial for Hispanics themselves but would also raise the education and skills of the nation 's future work force . '' Raul Gonzalez , the legislative director for the National Council of La Raza , a Latino civil rights and advocacy group , noted that `` a spike does not a trend make . '' `` We are hoping that this carries through to be more of a trend , '' Gonzalez said of the findings . Gonzalez gives some credit for the gains to the Bush administration 's No Child Left Behind law . `` It 's been about a decade of the No Child Left Behind policy . We are one of the few groups that still likes that law , '' he said . `` I do n't think it 's coincidental that ( the increased Hispanic enrollment is ) coming at a time when a cohort of kids has gone through a school career under No Child Left Behind . '' There was a 4 % decline in college enrollment among young whites since 2009 , the largest drop since at least 1993 , the study showed . This is at least partly due to a decrease in the 18- to 24-year-old white population . Ruiz said she sees her college education as part of the American dream , and she 's encouraging her brothers to take advantage of their educational opportunities as well .
A larger Hispanic population and better high school graduation rates increase college enrollment . Whites are still the largest group enrolled in college , but since 2009 there 's been a drop . No Child Left Behind helps with helping Hispanic ##s , the group says .