College-Educated Immigrants in the United States
Contrary to a widely held view, immigrants in the United States have an expansive range of education levels with about one in three immigrants having obtained a college degree.
According to the US Census Bureau's 2011 American Community Survey (ACS), immigrants accounted for 16% of the 58.8 million college-educated persons. However, their numbers were much higher among workers in certain occupations: immigrants represent nearly 28% of physicians, more than 31% of computer programmers, and mroe than 47% of medical scientists.
This fact sheet provides a demographic and socioeconomic profile of college-educated natives and immigrants (aged 25 and older) in 2011 and those who were engaged in the US civilian labor force. Unless noted otherwise, the fact sheet draws on 2011 ACS data.
Ji, Q. and Batalova, J. (2012). "College-Educated Immigrants in the United States." Washington, D.C.: Migration Policy Institute. Retrieved from https://www.migrationpolicy.org/article/college-educated-immigrants-united-states-2014