US African Immigrants Better Educated

The best-educated immigrants from sub-Sahara Africa are more likely to head to the US than any country in Europe, according to an analysis of data from the 2015 US Census Bureau and Eurostat, conducted by the Pew Research Center. 69% of immigrants aged 25 and over in the US had college experience, a higher figure than those in the United Kingdom, Portugal, Italy, and France, the analysis showed.

According to the analysis, sub-Saharans in the US are therefore much more likely to be gainfully employed than is the case with counterparts in the other nations. The immigrant population of sub-Saharan Africans is by far the most educated in the US, with 69% having college experience, 20% higher than the closest competitor, the United Kingdom.

The Pew analysis also showed that immigrants in those destinations tend to be better educated than is the case with most of the native populace, the sole exception being Italy. Local immigration policies are often a factor in the level of education of sub-Saharan African immigrants, with the US diversity program, which requires a minimum of high school education for eligibility, responsible for the admittance of around 25% of the immigrants.

The Pew report noted that the flow of sub-Saharan African immigrants is also driven by the ability to speak the native language of their adopted countries. 57% of sub-Saharan immigrants residing outside of sub-Saharan Africa as of 2015 were residing in the US, France, Portugal, Italy, and the United Kingdom.