Equal Degrees, Unequal Integration: Place of Education and Immigrant Earnings Trajectories

The share of immigrants in the United States with at least a bachelor’s degree has increased nearly fivefold since the 1960s. Still, little is known about the economic integration of highly educated immigrants. Notably, although many immigrants obtain their educational credentials in the U.S., a substantial proportion bring their credentials with them from abroad. How might holding a foreign – versus U.S. – educational credential shape the earnings growth of immigrants? We apply a mobility framework toward testing whether a U.S. college degree facilitates immigrant economic integration. Drawing on restricted data from the 1993–2019 National Survey of College Graduates, we use a novel decision tree method to evaluate the relative importance of place of education in shaping earnings trajectories across race and nativity. We find that a foreign education disadvantages the earnings development of Asian, Hispanic, and “other race” college degree holders. Although some foreign-educated workers may have higher earnings than their U.S.-educated counterparts during young adulthood, their subsequent earnings growth remains flat or decreases over time. These findings are more pronounced for men than women. We conclude by arguing that place of education is a key mechanism shaping high-skill immigrants’ economic trajectories, particularly for those with minoritized racial statuses.