U.S. Department of Commerce

Economics and Statistics Administration

U.S. CENSUS BUREAU

The Foreign Born With Science and 

Engineering Degrees: 2010

American Community Survey Briefs

By

Christine Gambino 

and

Thomas Gryn 

ACSBR/10-06

Issued November 2011

INTRODUCTION 

Knowledge and application of science, 

engineering, and technology play an 

increasingly crucial role in the growth 

and stability of the U.S. economy. The U.S. 

Department of Commerce reports that 

over the past 10 years, growth in science 

and engineering (S&E) jobs was three 

times greater than that of other types of 

jobs.1 In addition, science and engineering jobs are expected to continue to 

grow at a faster rate than other jobs. As a 

result, workers in S&E jobs are less likely 

to experience joblessness. Furthermore, 

S&E degree holders earn more than those 

who have degrees in other fields, regardless of whether or not they end up working in S&E occupations. 

This brief will discuss patterns of science 

and engineering educational attainment 

within the foreign-born population living 

in the United States, using data from the 

2010 American Community Survey (ACS).

The analysis is restricted to the population aged 25 and older, and the results 

are presented on S&E degree attainment 

by place of birth and sex, as well as 

metropolitan statistical area. Science and 

engineering fields of degree, as defined

1 Langdon, David, George McKittrick, David Beede, 

Beethika Khan, and Mark Doms. 2011. “STEM: Good 

Jobs Now and for the Future.” U.S. Department of 

Commerce: Economic and Statistics Administration, 

Issue Brief #03-11. Available at <www.esa

.doc.gov/sites/default/files/reports/documents

/stemfinalyjuly14_1.pdf>. Langdon et al. use the 

term “STEM” to refer to science, technology, engineering, and mathematics jobs and degrees. In this 

report, the science and engineering category includes 

such fields as biological sciences, physics, computer 

sciences, and social sciences, and is similar to, but 

not exactly the same as, the definition of STEM fields 

used by other researchers.

by the U.S. Census Bureau, are divided 

into seven subcategories: 1) computers, 

mathematics, and statistics; 2) biological, 

agricultural, and environmental sciences; 

3) physical and related sciences; 4) psychology; 5) social sciences; 6) engineering; and 7) multidisciplinary sciences.

Determination of field of degree is based 

on the respondent’s answer to the 2010 

ACS question: “What was the specific 

major or majors of any bachelor’s degrees 

you have received?” Those with a bachelor’s degree may or may not also have a 

higher degree; however, fields of degree 

for master’s, doctoral, and professional 

DEFINING NATIVITY 

STATUS: WHO IS FOREIGN 

BORN? 

Nativity status refers to whether 

a person is native or foreign 

born. The native-born population 

includes anyone who was a 

U.S. citizen at birth. Respondents 

who were born in the United 

States, Puerto Rico, a U.S. Island 

Area (U.S. Virgin Islands, 

Guam, American Samoa, or the 

Commonwealth of Northern 

Mariana Islands), or abroad of 

a U.S. citizen parent or parents, 

are defined as native born. The 

foreign-born population includes 

anyone who was not a U.S. 

citizen at birth, including those 

who have become U.S. citizens 

through naturalization.
2 U.S. Census Bureau

Table 1.

Educational Attainment for the Population Aged 25 and Older by Nativity: 2010

(Numbers in thousands. Data based on sample. For information on confidentiality protection, sampling error, nonsampling error, 

and definitions, see www.census.gov/acs/www)

Nativity

Total population 

aged 25 and older With bachelor’s degree or higher

Estimate

Margin of 

error1

 (+/–)

Total Science and 

engineering fields2 All other fields2

Estimate

Margin of 

error1 (+/–) Estimate

Margin of 

error1 (+/–) Estimate

Margin of 

error1 (+/–)

NUMBER

 Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 204,289 73 57,578 169 19,922 88 37,656 131

Native born . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 170,663 128 48,501 159 15,762 77 32,739 125

Foreign born . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33,626 89 9,077 55 4,160 35 4,918 43

PERCENT OF NATIVITY GROUP

 Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100.0 (X) 28.2 0.1 9.8 – 18.4 0.1

Native born . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100.0 (X) 28.4 0.1 9.2 – 19.2 0.1

Foreign born . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100.0 (X) 27.0 0.1 12.4 0.1 14.6 0.1

PERCENT OF FIELD

 Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100.0 (X) 100.0 (X) 100.0 (X) 100.0 (X)

Native born . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83.5 – 84.2 0.1 79.1 0.2 86.9 0.1

Foreign born . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16.5 – 15.8 0.1 20.9 0.2 13.1 0.1

– Represents or rounds to zero.

(X) Not applicable.

1

 Data are based on a sample and are subject to sampling variability. A margin of error is a measure of an estimate’s variability. The larger the margin of error 

is in relation to the size of the estimate, the less reliable the estimate. This number, when added to and subtracted from the estimate, forms the 90 percent confidence interval.

2 Field of degree is for bachelor’s degree.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2010 American Community Survey.

Figure 1. 

Percent Foreign Born of the Population Aged 25 and Older, by Educational Attainment 

and Field of Degree: 2010 

(Data based on sample. For information on confidentiality protection, sampling error, nonsampling error, and definitions, 

see www.census.gov/acs/www)

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2010 American Community Survey.

Percent

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

Multidisciplinary 

sciences

Social Engineering

sciences

Physical Psychology

and 

related 

sciences

Biological, 

agricultural, 

and 

environmental 

sciences

Computers, 

mathematics, 

and statistics

All science 

and 

engineering 

fields

Foreign born 

among 

bachelor’s 

degree or higher 

population, 

aged 25 and older

Foreign born 

in total 

population

 aged 25 and

older
U.S. Census Bureau 3

degrees are not analyzed in this 

report because field of degree is 

only assessed at the bachelor’s 

degree level in the American 

Community Survey. 

FINDINGS

In 2010, 48.5 million (28 percent) 

of the 170.7 million native-born 

population aged 25 and older, 

and 9.1 million (27 percent) of 

the 33.6 million foreign-born 

population aged 25 and older, 

had a bachelor’s degree or higher 

(Table 1). Nationwide, the foreign 

born made up 16 percent of the 

resident population holding a 

bachelor’s degree or higher, and a 

larger proportion (21 percent) of 

the population whose bachelor’s 

degree was in an S&E field (Figure 

1). The foreign born represented 

33 percent of all bachelor’s degree 

holders in engineering fields, 

27 percent in computers, mathematics, and statistics, 24 percent 

in physical sciences, and 17 

percent in biological, agricultural, 

and environmental sciences. 

Compared by nativity, a higher 

proportion of the foreign born had 

bachelor’s degrees in S&E fields 

than the native born (Figure 2). 

Of those with bachelor’s degrees 

or higher, 33 percent of native 

born had a degree in an S&E field, 

while 46 percent of foreign born 

had a degree in an S&E field. This 

difference was also pronounced in 

certain degree fields, such as engineering, computers, mathematics, 

statistics, and physical sciences. 

Of the 4.2 million foreign-born 

S&E bachelor’s degree holders 

in the United States, 57 percent 

were born in Asia, 18 percent in 

Europe, 16 percent in Latin America 

and the Caribbean,2 5 percent 

in Africa, 3 percent in Northern 

America, and less than 1 percent 

in Oceania (Table 2 and Figure 

3). The country of birth with the 

largest number of S&E degree 

holders was India with 747,000, 

accounting for 18 percent of the 

foreign-born population with S&E 

degrees. China was the next largest 

country-of-birth group at 516,000, 

representing over 12 percent of 

the foreign-born population with 

S&E degrees. The other countryof-birth groups with over 100,000 

foreign born with S&E degrees were 

the Philippines, Korea, Mexico, 

Vietnam, Canada, and Iran.

2 The term Latin America and the 

Caribbean includes countries in Central and 

South America and the Caribbean. Throughout the remainder of this report, the term 

Latin America refers to all of these areas.

Figure 2. 

Percent of the Population Aged 25 and Older With a Bachelor's Degree or Higher by 

Nativity and Field of Degree: 2010

(Data based on sample. For information on confidentiality protection, sampling error, nonsampling error, 

and definitions, see www.census.gov/acs/www)

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2010 American Community Survey.

Percent

0

10

20

30

40

50

Multidisciplinary 

sciences

Physical and Psychology Social sciences Engineering

related sciences

Biological, 

agricultural, and 

environmental 

sciences

Computers, 

mathematics, 

and statistics

All science and

 engineering fields 

Native born

Foreign born
4 U.S. Census Bureau

Computers, Mathematics, and 

Statistics

The majority (64 percent) of foreign 

born with degrees in computers, 

mathematics, and statistics were 

born in Asia, including 24 percent 

who were born in India and 14 

percent who were born in China 

(Table 2). Asia and Oceania (18 

percent each) were among the 

world regions of birth with the 

highest proportion of science and 

engineering degree holders who 

had studied computers, mathematics, and statistics (Table 3). Looking 

at countries of birth, Vietnam 

(22 percent) and India (21 percent) 

had the highest proportion of 

degree holders in computers, 

mathematics, and statistics fields.3

Biological, Agricultural, and 

Environmental Sciences

Biological, agricultural, and environmental science degrees were 

3 Vietnam and India are not significantly 

different from each other in this comparison.

especially common among the 

foreign born from Africa, Northern 

America, and Oceania. Eighteen 

percent of S&E degree holders from 

each of these regions majored 

in biological, agricultural, and 

environmental sciences (Table 3). 

Vietnam (19 percent) and Canada 

(18 percent) were among the 

countries of birth with the highest 

proportions of S&E degree holders 

who majored in biological, agricultural, and environmental sciences. 

Physical and Related Sciences

Of foreign born with bachelor’s 

degrees in physical and related science fields, 61 percent were born 

in Asia (Table 2). China had the 

largest proportion (16 percent) of 

S&E degree holders who majored in 

physical and related sciences (Table 

3). The foreign born from Mexico 

(7 percent) and Vietnam (8 percent) 

had the smallest proportions.4

Psychology

Overall, only 7 percent of foreign 

born with S&E degrees had majored 

in psychology (Table 3). In comparison, 13 percent of S&E degree 

holders from both Latin America 

and Northern America had degrees 

in psychology. Looking at countries 

of birth, Mexico and Canada had 

the highest proportion (13 percent 

each) of psychology degrees, while 

India had the lowest proportion (3 

percent). Foreign born from Latin 

America made up 16 percent of all 

foreign-born S&E degree holders, 

but 32 percent of foreign born 

with psychology degrees (Table 

2). Similarly, foreign born from 

Northern America made up 3 percent of all foreign born with S&E 

4 Mexico and Vietnam are not significantly 

different from each other in this comparison.

Figure 3. 

Nativity and Place of Birth of the Population Aged 25 and Older With a Science and 

Engineering Bachelor's Degree: 2010

(Data based on sample. For information on confidentiality protection, sampling error, nonsampling error, 

and definitions, see www.census.gov/acs/www)

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2010 American Community Survey.

Science and engineering bachelor's 

degree holders aged 25 and older

Region of birth

for foreign born

Country of birth for

those born in Asia

Native born

Foreign born Asia

China

India

Philippines

Korea

Vietnam

Iran

All 

other 

countries 

in Asia

Latin 

America

Europe

Africa

Northern

America

Oceania
U.S. Census Bureau 5

Table 2.

Percent Distribution of the Foreign-Born Population Aged 25 and Older With Science and 

Engineering Degrees by Place of Birth: 2010

(Numbers in thousands. Data based on sample. For information on confidentiality protection, sampling error, nonsampling error, 

and definitions, see www.census.gov/acs/www)

Region/country of birth1 All 

science and 

engineering 

fields

Science and engineering field categories

Computers, 

mathematics, and 

statistics 

Biological, 

agricultural, 

and environmental 

sciences

Physical 

and related 

sciences Psychology

Social 

sciences Engineering

Multidisciplinary 

sciences

ESTIMATE

Number . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4,160 658 602 481 285 620 1,466 47

PERCENT

 Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100 .0 100 .0 100 .0 100 .0 100 .0 100 .0 100 .0 100 .0

Africa . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 .3 5 .5 6 .7 5 .1 3 .9 7 .4 4 .0 7 .0

Asia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57 .0 63 .5 57 .5 61 .0 39 .1 46 .6 60 .6 50 .8

India . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 .0 24 .3 14 .6 19 .9 8 .1 8 .7 22 .0 8 .6

China2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 .4 14 .0 13 .7 17 .5 5 .7 8 .4 12 .6 6 .8

Philippines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 .2 4 .1 5 .2 4 .4 6 .9 5 .5 5 .5 10 .5

Korea3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 .5 3 .9 5 .2 4 .7 4 .4 5 .9 3 .7 8 .3

Vietnam . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 .2 4 .5 4 .2 2 .2 2 .3 1 .9 3 .4 3 .3

Iran . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 .6 2 .0 2 .9 2 .3 1 .9 1 .7 3 .2 1 .5

Europe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 .6 15 .5 15 .8 18 .4 18 .8 21 .5 17 .2 13 .3

Latin America and the 

Caribbean . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 .4 12 .8 15 .3 11 .6 31 .6 19 .4 15 .7 22 .8

Mexico . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 .1 2 .7 3 .6 2 .4 7 .9 4 .4 4 .6 5 .4

Northern America . . . . . . . . . . . 3 .1 1 .9 3 .9 3 .2 5 .8 4 .5 2 .1 4 .6

Canada . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 .1 1 .9 3 .8 3 .2 5 .7 4 .4 2 .1 4 .2

Oceania . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0 .6 0 .7 0 .8 0 .7 0 .9 0 .7 0 .4 1 .5

MARGIN OF ERROR4 (+/–)

Number . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35 12 12 11 10 13 21 3

PERCENT

 Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . . (X) (X) (X) (X) (X) (X) (X) (X)

Africa . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0 .2 0 .5 0 .5 0 .6 0 .6 0 .5 0 .3 2 .2

Asia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0 .5 1 .0 1 .1 1 .4 1 .6 1 .1 0 .8 3 .7

India . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0 .4 1 .1 0 .8 1 .1 0 .9 0 .5 0 .6 2 .0

China2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0 .3 0 .6 0 .8 1 .0 0 .7 0 .6 0 .5 1 .6

Philippines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0 .2 0 .4 0 .4 0 .5 0 .7 0 .5 0 .3 2 .2

Korea3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0 .2 0 .4 0 .6 0 .6 0 .7 0 .5 0 .3 2 .2

Vietnam . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0 .1 0 .5 0 .4 0 .3 0 .4 0 .3 0 .3 1 .3

Iran . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0 .1 0 .3 0 .4 0 .4 0 .4 0 .3 0 .3 1 .0

Europe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0 .3 0 .8 0 .8 0 .9 1 .2 0 .9 0 .5 2 .5

Latin America and the 

Caribbean . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0 .3 0 .7 0 .8 0 .9 1 .6 0 .8 0 .6 2 .9

Mexico . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0 .2 0 .3 0 .4 0 .4 1 .0 0 .5 0 .3 1 .7

Northern America . . . . . . . . . . . 0 .1 0 .2 0 .4 0 .4 0 .6 0 .4 0 .2 1 .5

Canada . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0 .1 0 .2 0 .4 0 .4 0 .6 0 .4 0 .2 1 .4

Oceania . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0 .1 0 .2 0 .2 0 .2 0 .3 0 .2 0 .1 1 .0

(X) Not applicable .

1

 Countries of birth are shown for those countries that had over 100,000 foreign born with science and engineering degrees .

2

 China includes Taiwan, Hong Kong, Macau, and the Paracel Islands .

3

 Korea includes South Korea and North Korea .

4

 Data are based on a sample and are subject to sampling variability . A margin of error is a measure of an estimate’s variability . The larger the margin of error is 

in relation to the size of the estimate, the less reliable the estimate . This number, when added to and subtracted from the estimate, forms the 90 percent confidence 

interval .

Source: U .S . Census Bureau, 2010 American Community Survey .
6 U.S. Census Bureau

degrees, but 6 percent of foreign 

born with psychology degrees. 

Social Sciences

The foreign born from Europe, 

Africa, and Northern America 

represented a larger proportion 

within social science fields. Of 

foreign born with degrees in social 

science fields, 47 percent were 

born in Asia, 22 percent were born 

in Europe, and 19 percent were 

born in Latin America (Table 2). 

Twenty-two percent of S&E degree 

holders who were born in Northern 

America and 21 percent who were 

born in Africa held degrees in 

social sciences, compared with 

12 percent of those born in Asia 

(Table 3).5 Among countries of 

5 Northern America and Africa are not 

significantly different from each other in this 

comparison.

birth, Canada (22 percent) and 

Korea (20 percent) had the highest 

proportion of social science degree 

holders, while India (7 percent) 

had the lowest proportion.

Engineering

A majority (61 percent) of foreign 

born with engineering degrees 

were born in Asia, including 22 

percent who were born in India, 

Table 3.

Percent Distribution of the Foreign-Born Population Aged 25 and Older With Science 

and Engineering Degrees by Field of Degree: 2010

(Data based on sample. For information on confidentiality protection, sampling error, nonsampling error, and definitions, see 

www.census.gov/acs/www)

Region/country of birth1 All 

science and 

engineering 

fields

Science and engineering field categories

Computers, 

mathematics, and 

statistics 

Biological, 

agricultural, 

and environmental 

sciences

Physical 

and related 

sciences Psychology

Social 

sciences Engineering

Multidisciplinary 

sciences

PERCENT

 Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100 .0 15 .8 14 .5 11 .6 6 .8 14 .9 35 .3 1 .1

Africa . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100 .0 16 .4 18 .3 11 .2 5 .0 20 .7 26 .8 1 .5

Asia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100 .0 17 .6 14 .6 12 .4 4 .7 12 .2 37 .5 1 .0

 India . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100 .0 21 .4 11 .8 12 .8 3 .1 7 .2 43 .1 0 .5

 China2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100 .0 17 .9 16 .0 16 .3 3 .2 10 .1 35 .9 0 .6

 Philippines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100 .0 12 .3 14 .3 9 .6 9 .0 15 .7 36 .9 2 .3

 Korea3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100 .0 13 .6 16 .7 12 .1 6 .8 19 .5 29 .1 2 .1

 Vietnam . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100 .0 21 .8 18 .8 8 .0 4 .9 8 .7 36 .6 1 .2

 Iran . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100 .0 12 .6 16 .3 10 .5 5 .0 10 .2 44 .7 0 .7

Europe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100 .0 14 .0 13 .0 12 .1 7 .3 18 .2 34 .5 0 .8

Latin America and the 

Caribbean . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100 .0 12 .3 13 .5 8 .2 13 .2 17 .6 33 .6 1 .6

 Mexico . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100 .0 10 .4 12 .9 6 .7 13 .3 15 .9 39 .3 1 .5

Northern America . . . . . . . . . . . 100 .0 9 .9 18 .2 11 .9 12 .8 21 .7 23 .9 1 .7

 Canada . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100 .0 9 .9 18 .2 12 .0 12 .8 21 .7 23 .9 1 .5

Oceania . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100 .0 17 .6 18 .0 12 .0 9 .3 16 .6 23 .9 2 .6

MARGIN OF ERROR4 (+/–)

 Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . . (X) 0 .3 0 .3 0 .3 0 .2 0 .3 0 .4 0 .1

Africa . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . (X) 1 .3 1 .3 1 .2 0 .7 1 .5 1 .5 0 .5

Asia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . (X) 0 .3 0 .4 0 .4 0 .2 0 .3 0 .5 0 .1

 India . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . (X) 0 .9 0 .7 0 .7 0 .3 0 .4 1 .1 0 .1

 China2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . (X) 0 .8 0 .9 0 .8 0 .4 0 .8 1 .2 0 .1

 Philippines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . (X) 1 .1 1 .2 1 .1 1 .0 1 .3 1 .6 0 .5

 Korea3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . (X) 1 .4 1 .7 1 .4 1 .0 1 .5 1 .8 0 .6

 Vietnam . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . (X) 1 .9 1 .8 1 .1 1 .0 1 .3 2 .0 0 .5

 Iran . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . (X) 1 .7 2 .1 1 .9 1 .0 1 .5 2 .6 0 .4

Europe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . (X) 0 .6 0 .6 0 .6 0 .6 0 .7 0 .9 0 .2

Latin America and the 

Caribbean . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . (X) 0 .7 0 .7 0 .6 0 .8 0 .8 1 .2 0 .2

 Mexico . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . (X) 1 .3 1 .3 1 .0 1 .5 1 .6 2 .1 0 .5

Northern America . . . . . . . . . . . (X) 1 .2 1 .7 1 .4 1 .3 1 .6 1 .7 0 .6

 Canada . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . (X) 1 .2 1 .8 1 .4 1 .3 1 .6 1 .8 0 .5

Oceania . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . (X) 3 .8 3 .6 2 .8 3 .2 3 .8 3 .7 1 .6

(X) Not applicable .

1

 Countries of birth are shown for those countries that had over 100,000 foreign born with science and engineering degrees .

2

 China includes Taiwan, Hong Kong, Macau, and the Paracel Islands . 

3

 Korea includes South Korea and North Korea .

4

 Data are based on a sample and are subject to sampling variability . A margin of error is a measure of an estimate’s variability . The larger the margin of 

error is in relation to the size of the estimate, the less reliable the estimate . This number, when added to and subtracted from the estimate, forms the 90 percent 

confidence interval .

Source: U .S . Census Bureau, 2010 American Community Survey .
U.S. Census Bureau 7

and 13 percent who were born in 

China (Table 2). An additional 17 

percent of the foreign born with 

engineering degrees were born 

in Europe, and 16 percent were 

born in Latin America. Engineering 

was the most popular S&E field of 

degree for the foreign born, with 

35 percent of foreign-born S&E 

degree holders majoring in engineering fields (Table 3). Thirty-eight 

percent of S&E degree holders born 

in Asia held degrees in engineering, 

compared with 24 percent born 

in Northern America and Oceania 

(Table 3). Looking at countries of 

birth, Iran (45 percent) and India 

(43 percent) were among the 

countries with the highest proportion with engineering degrees, 

while Canada had the lowest proportion (24 percent).6

Multidisciplinary Sciences

Multidisciplinary sciences include 

diverse fields of study such as 

nutrition studies, cognitive science, 

interdisciplinary social sciences, 

and many applied computer sciences. Overall, multidisciplinary 

science degrees made up only 1 

percent of all foreign born S&E 

degrees (Table 3). Within the field, 

23 percent of the foreign born with 

6 Iran and India are not significantly different from each other in this comparison.

a multidisciplinary science degree 

were born in Latin America (Table 

2). Among countries of birth, 11 

percent of the foreign born with a 

multidisciplinary science degree 

were born in the Philippines. 

GENDER

Of the 40.0 million foreign born, 

51 percent were female. Of the 

9.1 million foreign born aged 25 

and older with bachelor’s degrees, 

51 percent were female. However, 

only 37 percent of the 4.2 million 

foreign born with S&E degrees were 

female. The proportion of women 

with S&E degrees varies somewhat 

by region of birth (Figure 4). The 

foreign born from Latin America 

had among the highest proportion 

of S&E degree holders who were 

female (40 percent), while foreign 

born from Africa had the lowest 

proportion of S&E degree holders 

who were female (28 percent).

GEOGRAPHIC DISTRIBUTION

Nationwide, about 12 percent of 

the foreign-born population aged 

25 and older had S&E degrees 

(Table 4). However, the foreignborn population with S&E degrees 

was unevenly distributed across 

the nation’s metropolitan statistical 

areas (metro areas).

In 2010, the highest proportions of 

foreign born with S&E degrees were 

found in “college towns,” or metro 

areas where college or university 

students and employees represent 

a large proportion of the population (Figure 5). Approximately 

half of the foreign-born population had S&E degrees in Ames, 

IA (58 percent), home of Iowa 

State University of Science and 

Technology; State College, PA (56 

percent), home of Pennsylvania 

State University-University Park; 

and Columbia, MO (51 percent), 

home of the University of Missouri. 

In ten additional metro areas, 

Figure 4. 

Percent Female of the Foreign-Born Population Aged 

25 and Older With Science and Engineering Degrees 

by Place of Birth: 2010

(Data based on sample. For information on confidentiality protection, 

sampling error, nonsampling error, and definitions, see 

www.census.gov/acs/www)

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2010 American Community Survey.

Percent female with science and engineering degrees 

0 10 20 30 40 50

Oceania

North America

Latin America

Europe

Asia

Africa

Region of birth

Foreign born

Native born
8 U.S. Census Bureau

one-third or more of the foreignborn population had S&E degrees. 

All of these metro areas contain 

large universities with varied science, technology, and engineering 

programs and/or medical, pharmaceutical, agricultural, and technology companies: Morgantown, WV 

(49 percent); Manhattan, KS (46 

percent); Ithaca, NY (45 percent); 

Blacksburg-Christiansburg-Radford, 

VA (42 percent); Ann Arbor, MI 

(39 percent); Champaign-Urbana, 

IL (37 percent); Decatur, IL (37 

percent); Florence, SC (36 percent); 

Lawrence, KS (34 percent); and 

Madison, WI (33 percent).

Looking at large metro areas 

with a foreign-born population 

greater than 100,000, the highest 

proportion of foreign born with 

S&E degrees was in San JoseSunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA (29 

percent), followed by BaltimoreTowson, MD (24 percent) (Table 4).7

The greatest numbers of foreign 

born with S&E degrees were located 

in some of the most populous 

metro areas: 585,000 in New 

York-Northern New Jersey-Long 

Island, NY-NJ-PA; 386,000 in Los 

Angeles-Long Beach-Santa Ana, CA; 

221,000 in Washington-ArlingtonAlexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV; 

208,000 in San Francisco-OaklandFremont, CA; and 182,000 in 

7 Baltimore-Towson, MD, was not 

significantly different from St. Louis, MO-IL, 

Cleveland-Elyria-Mentor, OH, or Columbus, 

OH, in this comparison.

Chicago-Joliet-Naperville, IL-IN-WI. 

Five additional metro areas also 

had over 100,000 foreign born with 

S&E degrees: San Jose-SunnyvaleSanta Clara, CA; Miami-Fort 

Lauderdale-Pompano Beach, FL; 

Boston-Cambridge-Quincy, MA-NH; 

Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown, TX; 

and Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, 

TX. When combined, 2.3 million 

foreign-born S&E degree holders 

lived in these ten metropolitan 

areas, representing over half 

(55 percent) of the total 

foreign-born population with 

S&E degrees (Table 4).

SOURCE AND ACCURACY

Data presented in this report are 

based on people and households 

that responded to the ACS in 2010. 

The resulting estimates are representative of the entire population. 

All comparisons presented in this 

report have taken sampling error 

into account and are significant 

at the 90 percent confidence level 

unless otherwise noted. Due to 

rounding, some estimates may not 

sum to totals. For information on 

sampling and estimation methods, 

confidentiality protection, and 

sampling and nonsampling errors, 

please see the “2010 ACS Accuracy 

of the Data” document located at 

<www.census.gov/acs

/www/Downloads/data

_documentation/Accuracy/ACS

_Accuracy_of_Data_2010.pdf>.

WHAT IS THE AMERICAN 

COMMUNITY SURVEY?

The American Community Survey 

(ACS) is a nationwide survey 

designed to provide communities 

with reliable and timely demographic, social, economic, and 

housing data for the nation, states, 

congressional districts, counties, 

places, and other localities every 

year. It has an annual sample 

size of about 3 million addresses 

across the United States and Puerto 

Rico and includes both housing 

units and group quarters (e.g., 

nursing facilities and prisons). 

The ACS is conducted in every 

county throughout the nation, and 

every municipio in Puerto Rico, 

where it is called the Puerto Rico 

Community Survey. Beginning in 

2006, ACS data for 2005 were 

released for geographic areas with 

populations of 65,000 and greater. 

For information on the ACS sample 

design and other topics, visit 

<www.census.gov/acs/www>.

Additional information about the 

foreign-born population is available 

on the Census Bureau’s Web site at 

<www.census.gov/population

/www/socdemo/foreign

/index.html>.
U.S. Census Bureau 

9

Percent

25.0 and higher15.0 to 24.910.0 to 14.95.0 to 9.90.0 to 4.9

0 200 mi0 400 km

m

Data based on sample. For information on confidentialityprotection, sampling error,nonsampling error, and definitions,see www.census.gov/acs/www.

Figure 5.Foreign-Born Population With Science and Engineering Degrees as a Percentage of All Foreign Born Aged 25 and Older, by Metropolitan Statistical Area: 2010

Metropolitan statistical areas defined by the Office of Management and Budget as of December 2009.Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2010 American Community Survey.
10 U.S. Census Bureau

Table 4.

Foreign-Born Population Aged 25 and Older With Science and Engineering Degrees by 

Metropolitan Statistical Area: 2010

(Numbers in thousands. Data based on sample. For information on confidentiality protection, sampling error, nonsampling error, 

and definitions, see www.census.gov/acs/www)

Metropolitan statistical area1

Foreign-born population 

25 years and over

Foreign born 

with bachelor’s and 

higher degrees

Foreign born with science 

and engineering degrees

Estimate

Margin of 

error2

 (+/–) Percent

Margin of 

error2 (+/–) Percent

Margin of 

error2 (+/–)

 United States . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33,626 89 27 .0 0 .1 12 .4 0 .1

Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Marietta, GA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 584 10 32 .0 1 .1 14 .6 0 .8

Austin-Round Rock, TX . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 198 7 30 .5 1 .8 17 .0 1 .3

Baltimore-Towson, MD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 204 8 44 .7 2 .2 23 .6 1 .7

Birmingham-Hoover, AL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36 2 27 .9 3 .5 13 .6 2 .6

Boston-Cambridge-Quincy, MA-NH . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 652 12 37 .2 1 .2 20 .5 0 .9

Buffalo-Niagara Falls, NY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54 5 34 .0 3 .7 17 .1 2 .8

Charlotte-Gastonia-Concord, NC-SC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139 6 30 .3 2 .7 14 .2 2 .1

Chicago-Naperville-Joliet, IL-IN-WI . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,435 17 28 .0 0 .6 12 .7 0 .4

Cincinnati-Middletown, OH-KY-IN . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73 5 42 .6 3 .5 22 .6 2 .9

Cleveland-Elyria-Mentor, OH . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107 5 38 .1 2 .6 21 .2 2 .0

Columbus, OH . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100 5 38 .6 2 .7 21 .2 2 .2

Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 909 14 23 .1 0 .8 11 .4 0 .6

Denver-Aurora-Broomfield, CO . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 257 8 24 .6 1 .6 11 .8 1 .2

Detroit-Warren-Livonia, MI . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 305 9 36 .7 1 .6 19 .1 1 .2

Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, CT . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131 6 31 .0 2 .4 15 .1 1 .7

Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown, TX . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,099 15 22 .8 0 .8 11 .3 0 .6

Indianapolis-Carmel, IN . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88 4 31 .9 2 .8 16 .8 2 .2

Jacksonville, FL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91 6 31 .8 2 .8 13 .0 2 .3

Kansas City, MO-KS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100 5 28 .8 2 .7 10 .6 1 .6

Las Vegas-Paradise, NV . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 361 7 19 .6 1 .1 6 .4 0 .7

Los Angeles-Long Beach-Santa Ana, CA . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,889 29 23 .9 0 .4 9 .9 0 .2

Louisville/Jefferson County, KY-IN . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48 4 35 .0 4 .6 15 .4 3 .1

Memphis, TN-MS-AR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53 3 31 .8 3 .7 15 .7 2 .7

Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Pompano Beach, FL . . . . . . . . . . . 1,878 18 23 .4 0 .6 8 .2 0 .4

Milwaukee-Waukesha-West Allis, WI . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81 4 33 .1 3 .2 15 .3 2 .2

Minneapolis-St . Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI . . . . . . . . . . . . 241 7 32 .8 1 .8 17 .8 1 .3

Nashville-Davidson–Murfreesboro–Franklin, TN . . . . . . . . 90 5 23 .7 2 .4 9 .5 1 .6

New Orleans-Metairie-Kenner, LA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71 4 24 .6 2 .9 12 .7 2 .4

New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island, NY-NJ-PA . . 4,733 29 29 .9 0 .4 12 .4 0 .2

Oklahoma City, OK . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75 3 24 .5 2 .6 10 .0 2 .1

Orlando-Kissimmee, FL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 289 10 26 .3 1 .6 9 .1 1 .0

Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD . . . . . . 468 10 38 .1 1 .3 19 .1 1 .0

Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale, AZ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 503 12 19 .1 1 .0 8 .4 0 .8

Pittsburgh, PA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59 3 53 .8 2 .7 32 .5 2 .9

Portland-Vancouver-Beaverton, OR-WA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 226 7 29 .2 1 .8 14 .6 1 .2

Providence-New Bedford-Fall River, RI-MA . . . . . . . . . . . . 168 6 18 .2 1 .6 8 .0 1 .2

Raleigh-Cary, NC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105 5 35 .3 2 .8 19 .6 2 .0

Richmond, VA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73 4 32 .8 2 .8 17 .7 2 .6

Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 811 14 16 .3 0 .7 5 .9 0 .5

Sacramento–Arden-Arcade–Roseville, CA . . . . . . . . . . . . 308 9 24 .9 1 .4 11 .6 1 .1

St . Louis, MO-IL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99 5 42 .2 2 .9 22 .7 2 .3

Salt Lake City, UT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104 5 19 .6 1 .8 7 .4 1 .3

San Antonio, TX . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 221 9 18 .6 1 .5 8 .0 1 .0

San Diego-Carlsbad-San Marcos, CA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 624 11 26 .1 1 .2 12 .4 0 .8

San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,144 15 36 .2 0 .8 18 .2 0 .6

San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 596 10 46 .5 1 .2 28 .7 1 .1

Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 474 8 36 .9 1 .1 20 .3 1 .0

Tampa-St . Petersburg-Clearwater, FL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 305 12 26 .1 1 .6 9 .1 1 .0

Virginia Beach-Norfolk-Newport News, VA-NC . . . . . . . . . 88 4 33 .7 2 .6 13 .6 1 .9

Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV . . . . . . 1,045 12 40 .8 1 .0 21 .1 0 .8

1

 Metropolitan statistical area populations based on the 2010 Census . Metropolitan statistical areas defined by the Office of Management and Budget as of 

December 2009 . See <www .census .gov/population/www/metroareas/metrodef .html> .

2

 Data are based on a sample and are subject to sampling variability . A margin of error is a measure of an estimate’s variability . The larger the margin of error is 

in relation to the size of the estimate, the less reliable the estimate . This number, when added to and subtracted from the estimate, forms the 90 percent confidence 

interval .

Source: U .S . Census Bureau, 2010 American Community Survey .