The Skills and Economic Outcomes of Immigrant and U.S.-Born College Graduates
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Highlights
Immigrant college graduates match or exceed U.S.-born peers economically, yet the skills of one-fifth of them are underutilized. The gap can be closed with English skills training and credential reform.
- Using 2012–17 Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC) data, immigrant college graduates were more likely than U.S.-born peers to hold advanced degrees (60 percent vs. 53 percent) and to have majored in high-demand STEM or health fields (51 percent vs. 36 percent).
- Immigrants' literacy and digital skills trailed those of U.S.-born graduates by 22 and 19 percentage points respectively—partly reflecting that the PIAAC was administered only in English.
- Despite the skills gap, full-time immigrant graduates earned more per month on average ($7,145 vs. $6,499), driven largely by their higher rates of graduate degrees and STEM specialization.
- About one-fifth of immigrant college graduates are underutilized; credential recognition reform, bridge programs, and expanded English instruction are key to reducing this brain waste.
College-educated immigrants in the United States are more likely to have advanced degrees and to major in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) fields than their U.S.-born peers with college degrees. But their educational levels have not always translated into occupational gains: They are more likely than U.S.-born workers to be overeducated for their positions.
Even as the U.S. labor market faces persistent shortages, about 2 million college-educated immigrants in the United States worked in jobs that require no more than a high school degree or were unemployed as of 2019. This outcome is the result of lower levels of English proficiency, licensing barriers, limited social and professional networks, and other issues. Immigrants' literacy, numeracy, and digital skills may also play a role.
Drawing on an innovative international survey that tests skills needed for full participation in today’s increasingly knowledge-based world, this fact sheet finds a 22 percentage point gap in literacy and 11 percentage point gap in numeracy between immigrant college graduates and their U.S.-born peers.
By pooling the results of the three most recent Program for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC) tests, which were carried out internationally in 2012, 2014 and 2017, MPI researchers sketch educational characteristics, labor force participation, monthly earnings, skill underutilization, and self-assessed job quality for immigrant and U.S.-born college graduates alike.
Table of Contents
1 Introduction
2 Demographic and Educational Characteristics
3 Economic Outcomes and Job Quality
4 College Graduates' Skills and Labor Market Outcomes
5 Conclusion
About the Global Skills and Talent Initiative
Anchored in the premise that immigration policy must be part of a broader skills and talent strategy, the Initiative has a particular focus on employment-based immigration and the supports that can help immigrants apply their full range of educational and professional skills.
About the U.S. Immigration Policy Program
The U.S. Immigration Policy Program provides analysis of U.S. immigration pathways, the impacts of enforcement and other policies, and the characteristics of immigrant populations.
About the National Center on Immigrant Integration Policy
The Center is a national hub connecting policymakers, educators, community leaders, and service providers with evidence-informed policy research, technical assistance, and data to advance effective immigrant integration at U.S., state, and local levels.
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