Immigrants are well educated. The median level of education for newly arriving immigrants is 10 years, all of which was received abroad. Seventeen percent of recent immigrants had bachelor's degrees, and 12 percent have graduate degrees. Only 16 percent of U.S. citizens are college graduates, and only eight percent have completed graduate school. Test scores are rising.
Critics say immigration over the past decade has damaged America's educational standards.
Yet this decade has seen the highest-ever rise in scores on a leading college placement exam. During the 1990s, student achievement on national tests in math, science, and reading also have increased. More students are graduating from high school. Those numbers are expected to increase by 45.2 percent over the next eight years. Thus, charges that immigrants are driving down high school graduation rates are patently false.