Education Attainment of Children of Economic and Refugee Immigrants in the United States

Abstract

This paper analyzes the educational attainment of second-generation economic and refugee immigrants. Data from  the Children of Immigrants Longitudinal Study (CILS) survey are used to estimate two measures of educational outcomes: securing  a  college  degree,  and  years of  schooling  completed.  Results  show  that,  on  average,  children  of  refugees  have educational attainment outcomes that are on par with those of the children of economic immigrants. They have similar odds of college degree achievement and are also as likely to acquire similar years of schooling as the children of economic immigrants. Accounting for important controls such as parents’ socio-economic status index do not affect the results.