U.S --Born More Educated Than Immigrants
Among adult whites, 89 percent finish high school and nearly 30 percent a college degree. Among Hispanics only 57 percent finish high school and about 10 percent earn a college degree. But, these averages are deceptive. More than half of Latino adults are first generation, i.e. foreign-born immigrants. Few arrive young enough to attend U.S. schools. But 73 percent of U.S.-born Latino adults finish high school, 40 percent obtain some college education, and 14 percent earn at least a four-year degree.
Native versus immigrant experiences are critically different when it comes to high school completion, the greatest educational difficulty facing Hispanic children. Only about 7 percent of white children drop out. The statistics suggest that about 15 percent of native Latino children drop out compared with 44 percent of immigrant children. For some Latino immigrants this reflects their experience in U.S. schools, but many others, especially those who arrive as older adolescents, never “drop in,” that is they go straight to work while their American peers are still studying. The Department of Education finds that more than half of Latino immigrant dropouts never enroll in schools here. However, immigrant children arriving before the eighth grade do much better in U.S. schools. These youngsters have an easier time adjusting and go on to finish high school and reach college at rates similar to native Latino children.
U.S --Born More Educated Than Immigrants  | Hispanic Foreign Born  | Hispanic Native Born  | 0%  | 20%  | 40%  | 60%  | High School  | College 