Post-secondary Educational Attainment of Immigrant and Native Youth

We examine immigrant generation differences in college attendance and college type among youth ages 18 through 26 who have graduated from a US. high school. Results indicate that first and second-generation immigrants are significantly more likely to attend college than their third-plus generation counterparts of similar race/ethnicity, socioeconomic and family background characteristics. While parental behaviors and expectations for college attendance do not significantly mediate these generational differences, these factors appear to indirectly affect college-going behavior through their impact on students' verbal ability and academic achievement during high school. Interaction models including race/ethnicity and generation status reveal that the second-generation effects on college attendance are largely driven by Chinese youth, whereas the first-generation effects on college attendance are largely driven by black immigrant students.