Factsheets

In 2021, immigrants made up 13.6% of the overall population in the United States,1 a slight increase from 12.9% in 2011. In 2021, 13.5 million U.S. adults aged 25 and older with a bachelor’s degree or higher were born abroad, comprising 17% of all U.S. adults with a bachelor’s degree or higher. College attainment rates for immigrants in the U.S. increased 6.5 percentage points between 2011 and 2021, a similar rate for all U.S.-born citizens.

• In 2015–16, first-generation immigrant students made up 9.3% of all undergraduates, compared to 8.8% in 1999–2000.2
  • In the same time period, the proportion of second-generation immigrant students enrolled as undergraduates increased from 10.3% to 20.6%, and the proportion of third-generation or higher students declined from 81% to 70.1%.
• In 2021, 39.1% of the foreign-born resident 18–24-year-old population were enrolled in college compared to 38.1% of the population overall.
• First-generation immigrant students are overrepresented in the public two-year sector.
  • In 2015–16, 41.9% of first-generation immigrant students attended public two-year institutions, compared to 37.1% of second-generation and 34.1% of third-generation or more students.
• First- and second-generation immigrant students are much more likely to enroll at Minority-Serving Institutions (MSIs) than other students.
  • 35.7% of first-generation and 38.5% of second-generation students enroll at Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSIs), compared to 16.9% of third-generation or more students.