Asylum-seekers should be given the right to study after six months in the State, according to the Higher Education Equality Unit.
Most asylum-seekers are not currently entitled to study while their application for refugee status is being processed. This can take up to two years.
The prohibition means most of them are "left in limbo for years in terms of their integration and building on the skills that they have," said Ms Orla Egan, the director of the HEEU, which promotes equality in third-level education.
"In terms of making an adjustment to society that you are living in, if you can't work and can't study it's much harder," she added.
Since last summer about one quarter of asylum-seekers who have been in the State for more than 12 months have been permitted to seek work.
The take-up of this work permit scheme has been very low, and the HEEU report notes "serious problems" in how the measure is implemented.
By contrast, asylum-seekers in other EU states, including the UK, have the right to work and study after six months in the country, it says.
The report, Doing it Differently: Addressing Racism and Discrimination Against Members of Minority Ethnic Groups in Higher Education in Ireland, makes a series of recommendations to Irish colleges, the Department of Education and the Higher Education Authority.
These include calls for research, policies to help prevent discrimination, encouraging participation by minority ethnic groups in higher education, and training in anti-racism measures for professionals such as teachers, social workers and doctors.
Ms Egan said colleges often tried to charge fees to people who had obtained refugee status, when they should not have to pay them. There were no clear policy guidelines for colleges from the Department of Education or the Higher Education Authority on this issue, she said.
The report was launched yesterday by the chief executive officer of the Equality Authority, Mr Niall Crowley. "Its framework is a very valuable one in terms of contributing to a more inter-cultural ethos in third-level institutions as well as the wider society," he said.