Little in higher education seems more intractable than the access and achievement gaps between ethnic groups. White students consistently outdistance African Americans and Hispanics in both enrollment and academic performance. Despite the negative relationships between minority status and academic performance, African American and Hispanic students report being more engaged in college than their White peers. The purpose of this study is to understand the relationships between minority status and student engagement and minority status and academic outcomes in two-year colleges. Specifically, this study seeks to determine whether students from various racial and ethnic groups attending two-year colleges differ in the amount of time and energy they invest in educationally effective practices, and to determine the extent to which this investment contributes positively to desired outcomes. Participants were sampled in the 2002, 2003, or 2004 administrations of the Community College Student Report (CCSR), the survey instrument of the Community College Survey of Student Engagement (CCSSE). The results of this study were consistent with the findings from previous research: African American students reported being more engaged and demonstrated generally lower academic outcomes than their White peers. Results for the Hispanic community college students exhibited a weak consistency with previous findings. For African American students, a select number of features emerged from these results that, in light of existing research, suggest that their self-reported levels of engagement may represent an Effort-Outcome Gap--the result of having to put forth more effort in attempting to compensate for a pervasive combination of academic and institutional barriers to educational success. Implications of the findings for both community college policy and practice are discussed. (Contains 6 tables and 6 notes.)