This report examines education and the economic rewards to education among Hispanic Americans, documenting the gap in educational outcomes for Hispanics relative to non-Hispanic Whites. It also provides evidence about the increasing importance of education to economic success among Hispanics in the new economy, highlighting the high-paying sector of information technology (IT). Significant findings include: the Hispanic population is a rapidly growing, increasingly important segment of the U.S. population; despite tangible evidence of improvements for some groups, there are lags in the educational attainment of Hispanics; the economic rewards of education are on the rise; the relatively low levels of Hispanic earnings are explained largely by lower levels of educational attainment (earnings premiums associated with higher education are much the same for Hispanics as for non-Hispanics); and Hispanics are greatly under-represented in the high-paying IT sector, but in general those in IT occupations are successful. The IT case study illustrates that the consequences of underachievement in education are two-fold: students' future prosperity is harmed, and the economy at large will have fewer individuals prepared to contribute in new economy occupations. An appendix presents descriptions of IT occupations studied in this report. (SM)