Good News/Bad News On Immigrant Education

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The Center for Immigration Studies (CIS) finds that newly arrived immigrants are better educated than their predecessors. Unfortunately, they are more likely to be on Medicaid and food stamps.

“The share of newly arrived immigrants with at least a college degree increased from 34 percent in 2007 to 49 percent in 2017; and the share without a high school diploma fell from 34 percent to 16 percent,” CIS reports. “The education of natives also increased, but not nearly as much.”

Nevertheless, CIS also found that:

~”In 2007, 6 percent of new immigrants were on Medicaid; by 2017 it was 17 percent — an 11 percentage-point increase. The share of natives on Medicaid increased from 7 percent to 13 percent — a six percentage-point increase. New immigrants are now more likely to use the program than natives.”

~”The share of new immigrants living in households receiving food stamps roughly tripled from 4 percent to 13 percent from 2007 to 2017. Among natives, food stamp use also increased, but not as much, from about 6 percent to 10 percent. New immigrants are now more likely to live in a household on food stamps.”