ERIC EJ920372: Higher Education and Children in Immigrant Families

2011·0.11 MB·English

by  ERIC

Higher Education and Children in Immigrant Families
Higher Education and Children in
Immigrant Families
Sandy Baum and Stella M. Flores

Summary
The increasing role that immigrants and their children, especially those from Latin America,
are playing in American society, Sandy Baum and Stella Flores argue, makes it essential that as
many young newcomers as possible enroll and succeed in postsecondary education.
Immigrant youths from some countries find the doors to the nation’s colleges wide open. But
other groups, such as those from Latin America, Laos, and Cambodia, often fail to get a post-
secondary education. Immigration status itself is not a hindrance. The characteristics of the
immigrants, such as their country of origin, race, and parental socioeconomic status, in addition
to the communities, schools, and legal barriers that greet them in the United States, explain
most of that variation.
Postsecondary attainment rates of young people who come from low-income households and,
regardless of income or immigration status, whose parents have no college experience are low
across the board. Exacerbating the financial constraints is the reality that low-income students
and those whose parents have little education are frequently ill prepared academically to suc-
ceed in college.
The sharp rise in demand for skilled labor over the past few decades has made it more urgent
than ever to provide access to postsecondary education for all. And policy solutions, say the
authors, require researchers to better understand the differences among immigrant groups.
Removing barriers to education and to employment opportunities for undocumented stu-
dents poses political, not conceptual, problems. Providing adequate funding for postsecondary
education through low tuition and grant aid is also straightforward, if not easy to accomplish.
Assuring that Mexican immigrants and others who grow up in low-income communities have
the opportunity to prepare themselves academically for college is more challenging. Policies to
improve the elementary and secondary school experiences of all children are key to improving
the postsecondary success of all.
www.futureofchildren.org
Sandy Baum is a professor of economics, emerita, at Skidmore College. Stella M. Flores is an assistant professor of public policy and
higher education at Vanderbilt University.
VOL. 21 / NO. 1 / SPRING 2011 171
Sandy Baum and Stella M. Flores
Like native youths whose when they arrive and the subcultures in the
parents have no college United States into which they are absorbed—
experience and others from and in which they raise the second generation
low-income backgrounds, —explain most of the variation in overall
many immigrants and their postsecondary outcomes in the United States.
children face significant barriers to enrolling Over generations, even the most traditionally
and succeeding in postsecondary education. disadvantaged immigrants, such as Mexicans,
Their difficulties are frequently compounded show some gains in educational attainment,
by inadequate information about college although in terms more of high school
opportunities and how to access them, cul- completion than of postsecondary success.
tural differences, citizenship issues, language
barriers, and, too frequently, discrimination. For all immigrants and their descendants to
By contrast, other immigrants find the doors succeed in postsecondary education would
to U.S. higher education wide open and sur- not only improve prospects for both eco-
pass native white youth in enrolling and suc- nomic and social mobility for individuals but
ceeding in postsecondary education. Recent also confer benefits on society as a whole.
immigrant flows to the United States have, in With the already sharp rise in demand for
essence, divided newcomers into two groups, skills and education in the U.S. labor market
each with highly distinctive characteristics. likely to continue,2 the cost to the nation of
One is composed of highly skilled profession- failing to minimize the barriers to postsec-
als primarily from Asia who fill high-demand ondary education for less-skilled immigrant
positions in engineering, the medical profes- groups is high. Especially in view of recent
sions, and other technical occupations. The increases in the immigrant population share
other consists of unskilled labor and manual and the resulting shift in the ethnic and racial
workers primarily from Latin America, the composition of the United States, policy mak-
Caribbean, and some Southeast Asian coun- ers and educators should focus on increasing
tries.1 The latter group of immigrants faces immigrants’ participation in postsecondary
obstacles to getting a postsecondary educa- education to ensure the long-run strength of
tion that are difficult to overcome, while the the U.S. economy.
former does very well in U.S. higher educa-
tion. Not surprisingly, the differences among We begin by comparing the educational
immigrants are reflected in the experiences attainment of different subgroups of immi-
of succeeding generations. grants and their children and by comparing
their educational attainment with that of U.S.
Largely because of the variation in immigrant natives. We then examine several competing
characteristics, the links between immigrant explanations for the differing educational
status and postsecondary educational out- outcomes of subgroups of immigrants. We
comes in the United States are complex and distinguish between characteristics of immi-
highly dependent on country of origin. grants themselves, such as country of origin,
Immigrants’ prior education when they enter race, and education on the one hand, and
the United States plays a large role in the structural factors, such as communities, the
subsequent educational attainment of their quality of schools, and legal barriers shaping
children. Immigration status itself is not a their experiences on the other. We conclude
hindrance. The characteristics of immigrants by assessing the payoff to postsecondary
172 THE FUTURE OF CHILDREN
Higher Education and Children in Immigrant Families
Table 1. Educational Attainment of Immigrants Aged Twenty-Five to Thirty-Four by Generation,
1999 and 2009, by Percent
1999 2009
Some Some
college or Bachelor’s college or Bachelor’s
Less than associate’s degree or Less than associate’s degree or
Generation high school High school degree higher high school High school degree higher
First 30 24 19 27 29 25 17 29
Second 9 25 32 34 10 25 31 34
Third or higher 8 33 30 29 7 29 31 33
Source: U.S. Bureau of the Census, Current Population Survey, March Supplement, 1989, 2009 (cps.ipum.org).
Notes: First generation refers to individuals born outside the United States; second generation refers to individuals born in the United
States with at least one parent born outside the United States; third generation or higher refers to individuals who were born in the
United States to parents born in the United States.
education in U.S. society and examining the approximately 30 percent of all low-income
implications for all individuals regardless of U.S. children.4 The children of undocumented
immigrant origin. immigrants, 73 percent of whom are U.S.
citizens, make up an estimated 7 percent of
The Educational Attainment of elementary and secondary school students in
Immigrants and Their Children the United States.5
Although the educational attainment of
immigrants and their children differs from Tables 1–5, based on data from the U.S.
that of nonimmigrants, or natives, in many Current Population Survey (CPS), show
ways, differences across subgroups of immi- differences in educational attainment for dif-
grants are frequently even greater than ferent generations of immigrants. The tables
those between “average” immigrants and rely on a widely used definition of genera-
natives. For example, on average, in 2000, tional status.6 First-generation immigrants are
children of immigrants were nearly as likely foreign-born; second-generation immigrants
as children in native families to have a father were born in the United States and have at
with a B.A. degree. The averages, however, least one foreign-born parent; natives—third
obscure the reality that 50 to 80 percent generation or higher—include individuals
of foreign-born fathers from Africa, Japan, who were born in the United States and both
Korea, Hong Kong, Taiwan, India, Pakistan/ of whose parents were born in the United
Bangladesh, and Iran were college gradu- States. The CPS data offer the advantage of
ates, compared with only 4 to 10 percent of being able to capture the nativity, or country
fathers from Mexico, the Caribbean, Laos, of origin, of both the respondents and their
and Cambodia.3 These differences in paren- parents. As cross-sectional data, however,
tal education have a profound effect on the they do not allow the presentation of actual
experiences of their children. intergenerational mobility without the use
of statistical techniques not employed here.7
Approximately one in eight U.S. residents Therefore, individuals of the second genera-
today is an immigrant, while nearly a quarter tion are not the direct descendants of the
of all of the nation’s children are the children first generation captured in the same tables
of immigrants. These children make up during the same time frame.
VOL. 21 / NO. 1 / SPRING 2011 173
Sandy Baum and Stella M. Flores
Table 2. Share of Immigrants Aged Twenty- second generation to some extent. Among
Five to Thirty-Four with a Bachelor’s Degree or blacks in particular, but to a lesser extent for
Higher by Generation and by Race and Ethnicity,
all racial and ethnic groups, the bachelor’s
2009, by Percent
degree attainment rate is lower for the third
Generation Hispanic Black Asian White generation than for the second generation,
First 9 30 63 54 who are the children of immigrants.
Second 19 42 57 48
Third or higher 16 18 33 37
About half of all Hispanic immigrants aged
twenty-five to thirty-four have no high school
Source: U.S. Bureau of the Census, Current Population Survey,
March Supplement, 2009 (cps.ipum.org). diploma, compared with 9 percent of black
immigrants and 5 percent of Asian and white
immigrants in this age range.8 The lack of
a high school degree, insufficient English
Table 1 compares the educational attain-
language proficiency, the social and cultural
ment in 1999 and 2009 of first-generation
capital networks of the receiving U.S. com-
immigrants aged twenty-five to thirty-four
munities in which immigrants locate, and
with that of their second-generation and
differences in degrees of discrimination or
third-generation-or-higher counterparts
social acceptance all affect the prospects for
of the same age. In 1999, first-generation
social mobility.9
immigrants were less likely than subsequent
generations to have completed high school,
Determinants of Higher Education
and that pattern had not changed measurably
Participation and Success
in 2009. Bachelor’s degree attainment rates
In this section we examine several character-
were much more similar across immigrant
istics that help to determine success in higher
generations. In 2009, 29 percent of first-
education, with an emphasis on those specific
generation immigrants of this age group had
to immigrants and their children.
completed a bachelor’s degree, compared
with 34 percent of the second generation and
Parental Education
33 percent of the third generation (again,
Research has shown that parental education
U.S.-born to U.S.-born parents).
is a strong predictor of children’s educational
attainment.10 Even when analysts control for
Some groups of immigrants come to the
income—that is, when they compare only
United States with high levels of education
youth with similar family income—they find
and fare well as they integrate into an unfa-
that young people whose parents have no
miliar society. As reported in table 2, about
college experience are much less likely than
two-thirds of Asian and more than half of all others to enroll and succeed in postsecond-
white immigrants aged twenty-five to thirty- ary education. According to 2006 American
four have earned at least a bachelor’s degree, Community Survey data, 26 percent of
compared with only 9 percent of Hispanic children of immigrants, compared with only
immigrants. Second-generation black and 8 percent of those with native-born parents,
Hispanic individuals are much more likely lived in families where no parent had com-
than their first-generation counterparts to pleted high school or the equivalent. Almost
complete four-year college degrees, narrow- half of Mexican-origin youth have parents
ing the racial and ethnic gaps among the with no high school degree.11
174 THE FUTURE OF CHILDREN
Higher Education and Children in Immigrant Families
As the data in table 1 indicate, the gap quality of elementary and secondary school-
between immigrants and the native-born is ing critical. U.S. schools vary dramatically in
greater for high school than for college com- their financial resources, their facilities, the
pletion. Immigrants from the Middle East, quality of their teachers, and the character-
South Asia, East Asia, other Pacific nations, istics of their student bodies. Focusing on
and Europe are more likely than native-born relationships between immigrant students
individuals to be college graduates, whereas and school personnel, Carola Suárez-Orozco,
those from Mexico, Central America, the Allyson Pimentel, and Margary Marin found
Spanish Caribbean, Laos, and Cambodia have that school-based supportive relationships
much lower educational attainment. The dif- contributed to engagement with school and
ferences are dramatic. More than two-thirds greater student effort, as well as academic
of immigrants from the Middle East and performance as measured by grades. Other
South Asia have at least a bachelor’s degree, predictors of increased academic achievement
compared with only 7 percent of those from for immigrant students are English language
Mexico.12 This bimodal distribution of educa- skill, being female, having two parents in the
tional attainment among immigrants trans- home, and having an employed father.14
lates into a built-in advantage for some and
severe disadvantage for others—disadvantage Age at Immigration
that persists across generations. Age at immigration also makes a predictable
difference in educational attainment.
Academic Preparation Immigrants who enter the country before age
While imperfect measures, high school thirteen generally do as well as their native-
grades and standardized test scores are the born peers.15 Individuals who come to the
best available indicators of academic prepara- United States as young children are likely to
tion. Both are highly correlated with socio- have an easier time learning the language and
economic status. SAT scores are not available internalizing the norms of American society.
by country of origin, but the gaps among By contrast, those who immigrate between
ethnic groups are notable. In 2009 white high the ages of thirteen and nineteen have the
school seniors averaged 528 on the verbal and lowest levels of educational attainment. In
536 on the math SAT. Asian students scored 2005 only 26 percent of immigrants aged
slightly lower than whites on the verbal and eighteen to twenty-four who arrived in the
higher on the math. Black students had the United States between the ages of thirteen
lowest scores, averaging 429 verbal and 426 and nineteen had enrolled in college, com-
math, but Hispanics were not far ahead of pared with 42 percent of those who immi-
blacks. Mexican, Puerto Rican, and other grated before age thirteen.
Hispanic students averaged between 452 and
455 on the verbal SAT and between 450 and Table 3 shows patterns of educational attain-
463 on the math.13 ment by age (younger than twelve, twelve to
eighteen, and older than eighteen) at immi-
The fundamental issue of school quality is gration for youth from Mexico and other
beyond the scope of this paper. The impor- Latin American countries. Because of sample
tance of academic preparation in determining size limitations in the data, it is not pos-
postsecondary prospects, however, makes sible to isolate a narrow age range for these
an understanding of the factors affecting the comparisons. Mexican immigrants are less
VOL. 21 / NO. 1 / SPRING 2011 175
Sandy Baum and Stella M. Flores
Table 3. Latin American Immigrants Aged Twenty-Five and Older without a High School Diploma and
with a Bachelor’s Degree or Higher, by Age at Immigration, 2009, by Percent
Percentage with less than a Percentage with a bachelor’s
Region of origin Age at immigration high school diploma degree or higher
Mexico <12 35 10
12–18 60 3
>18 64 6
Other Latin America <12 13 30
12–18 25 20
>18 35 19
Source: U.S. Bureau of the Census, Current Population Survey, March Supplement, 2009 (cps.ipum.org).
Note: Because of census data reporting, some immigrants arrived in the United States when they were slightly younger than the age
categories listed here.
likely to have completed high school or col- ever enrolled in a U.S. school remained
lege than those from other Latin American enrolled.17 Low educational attainment
countries. Within both origin groups, immi- among those who immigrate with no inten-
grants who came to the United States before tion of enrolling in U.S. schools is not an
age twelve are much more likely to have indication of a lack of success in the U.S.
completed high school and college than those educational system. U.S. schools must, how-
who arrived later in their lives. Hispanic ever, address the barriers facing immigrants
immigrants are more likely to enter the and the children of immigrants who enter
country as teenagers and young adults than the system but do not succeed.
are other groups.16 This differential pattern
of age at entry compounds the gaps in the Complexity of Applying for College
higher educational outcomes of Hispanics. Lack of familiarity with the U.S. postsecond-
ary education system is a challenge for immi-
Interpreting differences in educational grants—especially those who do not attend
attainment by age at immigration is compli- U.S. high schools and whose parents are not
cated by the reality that many immigrants proficient in English.
in their late teens—particularly those from
Mexico—immigrate to find work, never Limited English proficiency is a particular
enrolling or intending to enroll in U.S. problem for some groups of immigrants. In
schools. R. S. Oropesa and Nancy Landale California in 2006, among Spanish-speaking
find that excluding these adolescents from immigrants (54 percent of all immigrants
the analysis substantially reduces gaps in in the state), only 26 percent spoke English
school enrollment between Mexicans and well, and 21 percent spoke no English at all.
whites and between native- and foreign-born In contrast, about 65 percent of Filipino and
Mexicans. Among sixteen- and seventeen- Hindi-speaking immigrants spoke English
year-olds in 2000, 94 percent of U.S.-born very well; only 1 percent and 5 percent,
Mexicans were in school, compared with respectively, spoke no English.18 Not sur-
only 71 percent of immigrants. However, prisingly, greater English proficiency boosts
85 percent of the foreign-born who were educational attainment among immigrants.19
176 THE FUTURE OF CHILDREN
Higher Education and Children in Immigrant Families
Applying for college and financial aid— counterparts, while immigrant status had no
a complex task even for students with measurable effect among whites and Asians.22
English-speaking parents who are them-
selves college graduates20—is far more Allison Hagy and J. F. O. Staniec find similar
difficult for the children of non-English- results using more recent data. They examine
speaking immigrants, even those who are postsecondary enrollment patterns within two
themselves fluent. years of graduation among 1992 high school
graduates. Defining the first generation as the
Educational Outcomes foreign-born children of immigrants and the
Although many subgroups of immigrants second generation as U.S.-born children of
do not fare well in the U.S. postsecond- immigrants, they observe that 75 percent of
ary education system, overall—because of first-generation and 71 percent of second-
the wide gaps in educational attainment by generation high school graduates enrolled in
group—immigrants are actually more likely postsecondary education, compared with only
than their native counterparts to enroll in 65 percent of natives. Controlling for indi-
postsecondary education, and most children vidual characteristics, Hagy and Staniec find
of immigrants attain higher levels of educa- that first-generation immigrant status is
tion than their parents. Among a few groups, significant in increasing the probability of
however, most notably Mexicans, progress enrolling in college.23
is more limited by most measures. Using
various U.S. Census and Current Population Hagy and Staniec find that Hispanics have
Surveys over multiple decades to measure the lowest four-year college participation rate
intergenerational mobility, James P. Smith within each generation. Second-generation
finds that although schooling gaps for certain Hispanics do have somewhat higher four-year
groups of immigrants, especially Mexicans, enrollment than other Hispanics—31 percent
are large, they narrow by the second genera- compared with 28 percent of their native
tion and appear to continue to narrow in counterparts. Seventy percent of all second-
the third generation.21 But despite evidence generation Asian and Pacific Islanders
of progress across generations of Mexicans, enrolled in four-year institutions, compared
the gap in educational attainment relative to with 46 percent of the native population and
other racial and ethnic groups, particularly 55 percent of their first-generation counter-
whites and Asians, remains large. parts. Although these averages conceal dif-
ferences among Asian countries, the general
The Immigrant Advantage pattern is that first- and second-generation
Researchers commonly find that immigrants, immigrants have four-year college enrollment
as well as their children, have higher levels of rates at least as high as, and generally higher
postsecondary educational attainment than than, native high school graduates of the
do natives. Using data on the sophomore and same ethnicity.24
senior high school classes of 1980, Georges
Vernez, Allan Abrahamse, and Denise Many researchers argue that the immigrant
Quigley found that, controlling for other fac- advantage is a result of “positive selec-
tors such as race and socioeconomic status, tion”—that immigrants from all countries
Hispanic and black immigrants were more tend to have higher levels of human capi-
likely to enroll in college than their native tal and motivation than is typical in their
VOL. 21 / NO. 1 / SPRING 2011 177
Sandy Baum and Stella M. Flores
countries of origin.25 The degree of positive that immigrant students overlooked signifi-
selection is likely to be greater when the cant differences among institutions and based
difficulty of immigrating is greater.26 Another their choices on cost and location, not on
explanation for the immigrant advantage is quality measures.30
“immigrant optimism.” If immigrants come
to the United States with high expectations, Using data from the Beginning Postsecondary
they may have psychological resources to Students Longitudinal Study, Wendy
overcome socioeconomic disadvantages.27 Erisman and Shannon Looney found that
In other words, although immigrants vary approximately half of students who entered
widely by country of origin, they tend to four-year and two-year colleges in 1995 had
share characteristics that improve their earned a credential six years later. The figure
chances for success, and immigrant status was similar for immigrants and for the
per se does not appear to prevent people native-born (including the children of
from accessing higher education. immigrants). But although 30 percent overall
had earned a bachelor’s degree, only 23
College Success percent of immigrant students (and 19
For a variety of reasons, whether they are percent of noncitizens) had done so.
immigrants or natives, low-income students Immigrants, instead, were more likely to have
and youth whose parents have no college earned an associate’s degree. In other words,
experience are more successful getting on average immigrants were as likely as
into college than they are in completing a others to complete their course of study, but
degree.28 Financial barriers certainly play a the course of study they undertook was less
role here, and students with family obliga- ambitious. Black immigrants in particular had
tions are most likely to find it difficult to a high completion rate because the credential
piece together adequate funds without work- they pursued was a certificate. Among
ing excessive hours that interfere with their Hispanic immigrants, only 43 percent had
studies. But inadequate academic prepara- earned any credential. Few black or Hispanic
tion, unrealistic expectations, and insufficient immigrants had earned a bachelor’s
information to make sound choices about degree—10 percent of blacks and 14 percent
which institution is most suitable all contrib- of Hispanics, compared with 31 percent for
ute to the low completion rates of disadvan- white and Asian and Pacific Islander immi-
taged students. grants.31 Hispanic immigrants alone have
disproportionately low completion rates.
A growing body of evidence on college-
going youth generally suggests that those Risk factors associated with low persistence
who attend the most selective institutions and attainment in postsecondary educa-
for which they are eligible are significantly tion are more prevalent among immigrant
more likely to complete degree requirements undergraduates than among undergraduates
than similar students who enroll in less chal- in general. In 2003–04, 62 percent of immi-
lenging institutions.29 Because immigrant grant students for whom data on parental
students tend to be unfamiliar with the U.S. income were available were in the bottom 40
higher education system, they are less likely percent of the income distribution. Students
to make optimal choices. Anna Zajacova, in this category are more likely than average
Scott Lynch, and Thomas Espenshade found to attend part time, be older, and support
178 THE FUTURE OF CHILDREN
Higher Education and Children in Immigrant Families
Table 4. Bachelor’s Degree Attainment of First- and Second-Generation Immigrants Aged Twenty-Five
to Thirty-Four by Region of Origin, 2009, by Percent
Region of origin First generation Second generation
Mexico 6 15
Other Latin America 17 31
Africa and Caribbean* 32 45
Southeast Asia (excluding India, Pakistan)** 43 45
Southeast Asia (including India, Pakistan) 64 51
East Asia*** 66 72
Europe 59 49
Source: U.S. Bureau of the Census, Current Population Survey, March Supplement, 2009 (cps.ipum.org).
*Caribbean nations included with Africa: Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Barbados, Dominica, Grenada, Haiti, Jamaica, St. Kitts and
Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, and Trinidad and Tobago.
**Southeast Asia includes Bangladesh, Burma, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Nepal, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand,
Vietnam, and Sri Lanka.
***East Asia includes China, Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan.
dependents. They also have higher unmet First- and second-generation Asians are
financial need. These circumstances make much more likely to enroll in a four-year
it particularly impressive that immigrant postsecondary school and much less likely
students have rates of completion largely than other immigrant groups or than high
comparable to those of nonimmigrants. school graduates in the native population not
to enroll in college at all. In contrast, first-
Variation by Country of Origin and second-generation Hispanic immigrants
are most likely not to enroll in postsecondary
Generalizations about the educational
education. Their low enrollment rates are
attainment of the immigrant population may
consistent with the patterns observed among
be misleading because outcomes among
Hispanics in the third generation or higher.33
immigrant groups themselves are so diverse.
In a study of educational attainment of
The variation in educational attainment
immigrants arriving in the United States
among immigrants has grown as the Hispanic
before age eighteen, Rubén Rumbaut found
share of the immigrant population has
Chinese, Indians, and Koreans to be the
increased. The overall educational attain-
most educated groups. Dominicans, Puerto
ment of immigrants rose from 1970 to 1990,
Ricans, Laotians, and Cambodians had very
though it rose less than that of the native
high school dropout rates. The least edu-
population. The decline in the educational
cated were the Mexican, Salvadoran, and
attainment of immigrants relative to natives
Guatemalan foreign-born. For every Asian
is entirely attributable to declines in attain-
and Latin American ethnicity, the share ment at the bottom of the income distribu-
of college graduates rose for the second tion. At the 25th percentile the gap in the
generation while the share of high school education of immigrants and natives grew; at
dropouts fell. The differences across groups the 50th percentile educational attainment
by country of origin also diminished among rose for immigrants but not for natives; at the
the second generation.32 75th percentile increases in attainment were
VOL. 21 / NO. 1 / SPRING 2011 179
Sandy Baum and Stella M. Flores
similar for the two groups. At the upper end The strongest predictor of educational attain-
of the distribution the immigrant population ment was youths’ expectations measured in
is and was at least as educated as the native junior high school and again in senior high
population, but the educational attainment of school. Parental socioeconomic status was
immigrants at the lower end of the distribu- also a strong predictor. Being of Vietnamese
tion has declined relative to natives, and the origin had a positive link with educational
education level of Hispanic immigrants in attainment, while being of Cambodian origin
particular has not increased.34 had a negative link. Understanding why these
two refugee groups differ so much would
Census data for 2009 reveal dramatic differ- help clarify the divergent fates of immigrant
ences in the bachelor’s degree attainment groups in the United States. Despite the dif-
rates of immigrants from different countries ferences in overall college enrollment rates
(see table 4). About two-thirds of twenty- across immigrant groups, Hagy and Staniec
five- to thirty-four-year-old immigrants from conclude that if Asians and Hispanics had
East Asia and Southeast Asia have a bachelor’s similar socioeconomic backgrounds, their
degree or higher, compared with 6 percent postsecondary enrollment patterns would be
of Mexican immigrants and 17 percent of indistinguishable from those of white immi-
those from other Latin American countries. grants.36 As for high school graduates gener-
The children of Latin American immigrants, ally, family income, parents’ education, and
however, are much more likely than the first youths’ educational achievement influence
generation to have a four-year college degree, college enrollment. Being an immigrant—or
while for Southeast Asian and European belonging to a particular ethnic group—is not
immigrants the second generation is less likely the primary determinant of postsecondary
than the first generation to have a degree. As participation or of college enrollment.
a result, the gaps across countries of origin are
smaller for the second generation. Mexican Immigrants
As a group, Mexican immigrants are outliers
Further information on differences by coun- in the stories of immigrant success in the U.S.
try of origin comes from Rubén Rumbaut, postsecondary education system. They tend
who studied a sample of immigrants in their to enter the United States with little educa-
mid-twenties. Of the sample as a whole, 20 tion, are less likely than other immigrant
percent had completed a bachelor’s degree. groups to enroll in college, and experience
Graduation rates ranged from 8 percent for less continued improvement in education
Mexicans and 14 percent for Cambodians across generations than immigrants from
and Laotians to 47 percent for those from other countries.
China, Taiwan, and other Asian countries.35
Examining the determinants of educational As reported in table 5, between 1999 and
attainment in this sample, Rumbaut found 2009, the share of Mexican immigrants aged
that having a U.S.-born parent was negatively twenty-five to thirty-four without a high
associated with children’s attainment—a school diploma fell from 60 percent to 55
finding consistent with evidence that assimi- percent. The contrasts between the first and
lation into some ethnic cultures in the United the second generations are sharp, with only
States is associated with an eroding work 19 percent of the U.S.-born children of immi-
ethic and deteriorating educational outcomes. grants in 2009 lacking a high school diploma.
180 THE FUTURE OF CHILDREN