A new report gives the University of Hawaii’s two- and four-year campuses poor grades for student success, cost-effectiveness and transparency.

But Hawaii wasn’t alone in receiving low marks.

Several other state university systems also performed poorly on the key indicators, according to the state-by-state "report card," which was produced by the Institute for Competitive Workforce, an affiliate of the conservative-leaning U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

The nation’s overall less-than-glowing performance in the report, the study’s authors note, shows there is a lot of work to be done to improve the delivery of higher education in the United States.

"American colleges and universities have long been viewed as the best in the world," the study’s authors concluded. "Beneath this impressive exterior, however, some significant cracks are evident."

The report comes as the University of Hawaii works to improve support for incoming freshmen and boost its graduation rate. Hawaii is one of 30 member states in Complete College America, a partnership of colleges and universities working to significantly increase the number of Americans with post-secondary certificates or college degrees.

"Retention and graduation is an ongoing concern and that’s why we set a goal in 2008 to increase the number of students who succeed in getting a credential," said Linda Johnsrud, UH vice president of academic planning and policy.

She said the university has made strides in meeting that goal, but added that there is more work to do.

"We are really working on this," she said.

In the report, UH’s four-year campuses received an F for efficiency and cost-effectiveness, with the cost per completed undergraduate degree tallied at $85,139 (compared with $68,140 nationally).

Four other states — Alaska, Idaho, North Carolina and Wyoming — received failing grades for the indicator at four-year campuses, while nine states got D’s.

Johnsrud noted that while part of the low cost-effectiveness is linked to the graduation rate, the study did not consider that the cost of doing business in Hawaii is higher than in other states.

UH’s three four-year institutions got a D, meanwhile, for student access and success. The grade largely reflected the institutions’ low completion rate (46.5 percent of first-time freshmen received a bachelor’s degree within six years versus 54.5 percent nationally).

Eleven other states also got D’s, while just five received A’s.

Hawaii’s four-year campuses also got a D for transparency and accountability, an indicator that measured how institutions disseminated information on their performance and outcomes.

Hawaii public two-year institutions didn’t fare much better in the report.

They got a D for student access and success (with a 14.8 percent completion rate compared with 20.5 percent nationally), and received an F for cost per completion (with the cost for each completed degree estimated at $77,267 compared with $57,210 nationally).

For transparency and accountability, they got an F.

A bright spot in the report was the B that two-year campuses got for meeting labor market demand. Hawaii’s four-year institutions got a C for the indicator.

As a state system, Hawaii performed well, earning B’s for policy environment and online learning.