ACE | Bridging the Gaps

Last year, there were over 35 million immigrants in the United States, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. More than half of these immigrants have no more than a high school diploma, while 27 percent have earned a bachelor’s degree or higher. This wide range of immigrant educational attainment presents a challenge for higher education institutions across the country, and an even greater challenge for immigrants seeking access to higher education.

Beyond this demographic information and the numerous opinions on immigrants in the U.S. workforce, what else do we know about adult immigrants in postsecondary education? What more do we need to learn in order to serve this adult learner population more effectively?

Why Educating the "New Americans" Matters

Institutions must not only have a professor who can handle diversity, but a structure that backs up that challenge for the professor. In a classroom, you have a group who has worked up to a very sophisticated level in their careers. They're able to communicate, articulate ideas, etc. In the same classroom, you may have ESL students, who have a difficulty communicating. We can’t play a wishing game: 'They should be better prepared.' They're not. We need to deal with it.

--Carol-Rae Sodano, Dean, School of Adult and Continuing Education, Barry University, Miami Shores, Florida

Adult immigrants make up 15 percent of the U.S. workforce (U.S. Census Bureau), and the education of these workers plays an important role in the future of the U.S. economy. A number of initiatives promote workforce development, such as the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s National Work Readiness Credential and United Technologies Corporation’s Employee Scholar Program. Engaging adult immigrants in these educational efforts is especially critical to the vitality of families and communities across the United States. Moreover, the potential results, as we hear from many quarters, are improved capacity and productivity, and a more competitive U.S. workforce.

Currently, immigrants make up a growing share of low-wage workers, and many of these low-wage workers have had little formal education. Almost half of all immigrants earn less than 200 percent of the minimum wage (The Urban Institute), largely due to a corresponding gap in education between foreign-born and native-born adults.

This dismal statistic underscores a significant need for basic education and literacy programs in concert with vocational training. Immigrant adult learners, like most all adult learners at every educational level, need to work while they are gaining both academic and workforce-related skills.

In addition, the higher education community and adult learner immigrants face another access and success challenge: English proficiency. Nearly two-thirds of low-wage immigrant workers do not speak English proficiently (Urban Institute)—a major obstacle for them in accessing both better education and better jobs. In response to this challenge, a number of organizations and institutions have developed Vocational English as a Second Language (VESL) programs to integrate English literacy and vocational skills training in a single program.

The City College of San Francisco is one institution that offers a number of resources for immigrants seeking VESL, from VESL courses and a Vocational Immersion program to a bilingual support service for its Latino population.

On the other end of the continuum—and often given much less attention—are the high-skilled immigrant workers. For example, 12.5 percent of immigrants have master’s degrees (Institute for Work and the Economy, PDF file). Continuing education for a sizeable number of these skilled workers ranges from completing bachelor’s or master's degrees to obtaining credentials for educational and work experiences previously gained in immigrants’ home countries. Often, language is also a barrier to high-skilled workers, even if they already have 12 or more years of formal education.

What Affects Immigrants' Educational Attainment?

A number of patterns have emerged linking immigrants’ educational attainment with other factors such as country of origin, ethnicity, and gender.

According to the Institute for the Study of Labor (PDF) , country of origin makes a notable difference. For example, immigrants from Africa, South and East Asia, the Philippines, and North and Western Europe obtain a year to a year and a half more schooling than their counterparts in the U.S. or from English-speaking countries. In comparison, Mexican immigrants tend to lag behind the U.S.-born by about four years.

We’re not paying attention to the demographics in thinking about economic viability and citizenship values, with postsecondary education as one of the critical factors. Are we going to throw people away? We need to put into place strategies that move more people through the postsecondary education system, and do a better job linking all the options, enabling one door—noncredit—to more easily open to the other—credit.

--Gail Mellow, President, LaGuardia Community College, New York

With the general Hispanic population currently constituting 49 percent of the foreign-born labor force (Bureau of Labor Statistics) and growing, it is in the country’s best interest to pay attention to trends in education for this immigrant population. A Pew Hispanic Center report, The Improving Educational Profile of Latino Immigrants (PDF), compares educational levels of Latino adult immigrants between 1970 and 2000. The center found that the majority of current Latino immigrants have completed a higher level of education than Latinos 30 years ago, and more have graduated from college and completed their education in the United States.

Examining gender differences, the same study found that immigrant men acquire half a year more education than immigrant females. However, within the low-wage population, a larger percentage of female immigrant workers were English proficient with at least a high school diploma.

Given the wide disparity of educational needs and goals across and within adult immigrant populations (not to mention the high costs of many of these programs and services and the lack of sustained funding), higher education institutions are challenged to create programs and services that effectively link postsecondary learning at multiple levels.

Bridging the Gaps: Knowing—and Serving—Adult Learner Immigrants Better

In spite of the numerous obstacles, community colleges have been working for quite some time to bridge postsecondary gaps for adult learner immigrants, most recently with integrated workforce, literacy, and language programs. Further, higher education sectors are joining forces with business/industry, state governments, and unions to develop successful workforce programs.

With these new collaborations come greater demands for policies and practices that offer a much more seamless transition for adult learner immigrants, particularly from noncredit continuing education classes to certificate and degree programs with academic credit. As colleges and universities gain more knowledge about what works, they must expand successful linkages, including outreach and transitional services.

To that end, the next issue of CenterPoint will take a closer look at the challenges faced by higher education institutions striving to bridge the gaps. It will feature innovative partnerships among institutions and communities to successfully address some of these challenges, as well as highlight the barriers that still exist for adult immigrant learners in the United States today.

Bridging the Gaps: From New American to Adult Learner

Why Educating the "New Americans" Matters

What Affects Immigrants' Educational Attainment?

Bridging the Gaps: Knowing—and Serving—Adult Learner Immigrants Better