For the past 5 years, the American Council on Higher Education's Office of Minority Concerns (OMC) has been monitoring the annual progress of minorities in higher education and issuing a report card on the system itself and the country as a whole. The 1986 report takes a more in-depth look at the whole by focusing on the progress of the particular states. To get this information, the OMC requested data from every state and the District of Columbia. Only 26 states responded to the questionnaire because states are no longer keeping as comprehensive records on minorities as they did even 5 years ago. Data on the 26 participating states are provided, and an analysis of how the country as a whole has progressed in the past year is included. The sections cover: enrollments; trends in minority enrollments (undergraduate, graduate and first professional, degrees conferred); minority recruitment efforts; retention of minority students; faculty and administration; issues of continuing concern (desegregation, traditionally Black institutions); and barriers to access (high school graduation rates, higher cost of education and financial aid). Some of the important trends noted are as follows: Asians continue to be the only minority group that is over-represented in enrollments and degrees earned in higher education; Black undergraduate and graduate enrollments declined significantly between 1980 and 1984, while Hispanic and Asian enrollments increased; Blacks showed a decline in the number of faculty positions held between 1977 and 1983, while other minoirities increased their representation; and enrollments at traditionally Black institutions peaked in 1980 and appear to be fluctuating. Thirty-four tables are included. (SM)