Immigrants are Raising Educational Standards Immigrants play a small role in school enrollment. The nation's public and private school enrollment is expected to hit a record 53.2 million during the 1999 academic year. But the baby boom echo, expanded pre-school programs and the recognition of the importance of education are the leading factors for this dramatic hike in school enrollment. Immigration is a minor player in the increases.
Immigrants are above school age.
More than 70 percent of immigrants are over age 18. In other words, they don't use our public and private elementary schools. 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.