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Washington, D.C. (May 10, 2022) - A new report from the Center for Immigration Studies shows that foreign degrees as a whole are less valuable in the U.S. than U.S. degrees, but their value varies substantially depending on the specific country or region where the degrees were earned. This conclusion is consistent with previous research from the Center demonstrating that foreign-educated immigrants underperform U.S. degree holders on English-language tests of literacy, numeracy, and computer operations.
“These results make it clear that researchers and policymakers should not just assume that foreign degrees and U.S. degrees have equivalent value in the American labor market,” said Dr. Jason Richwine, a resident scholar at the Center.
Key findings below refer to full-time U.S. workers with at least a bachelor’s degree:
- After controlling for a traditional set of earnings-related characteristics, foreign-educated immigrants earn 17 percent less than natives who were educated in the U.S.
- The foreign-degree penalty is driven primarily by immigrants educated in non-Western countries.
- Immigrants educated in Latin America (24 percent salary penalty), Eastern Europe (27 percent), China (28 percent), the Philippines (35 percent), and Africa (39 percent) all experience penalties that exceed the foreign-degree average.
- By contrast, immigrants educated in Western Europe, Australia, and India earn roughly the same salaries as comparable U.S. natives.
- Canadian-educated immigrants earn 20 percent more than U.S. natives.
- Controlling for the type of entry visa that each immigrant receives does not eliminate the variation in foreign-degree value.
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