Equity & Diversity

Immigrant Blacks’ Numbers Studied

By Alyson Klein — February 12, 2007 1 min read
  • Save to favorites
  • Print

Black students whose families recently immigrated to the United States make up a disproportionate share of black freshmen at selective colleges, compared with the numbers of their age group in the larger U.S. black population, according to a study by researchers at Princeton University and the University of Pennsylvania.

The study found that blacks who themselves or whose parents immigrated to the United States made up 27 percent of black freshmen at 28 top colleges in the 1999-2000 academic year. But at that time, immigrant or second-generation blacks constituted only 13 percent of all black 18- and 19-year-olds in the United States.

Further information on ordering the report, “Black Immigrants and Black Natives Attending Selective Colleges and Universities in the United States,” is available from the American Journal of Education.

Among the 28 colleges studied were four Ivy League universities--Columbia, Princeton, Penn, and Yale--where immigrant or second-generation blacks made up 40.6 percent of all black freshmen.

The study, “Black Immigrants and Black Natives Attending Selective Colleges and Universities in the United States,” is in the February issue of the American Journal of Education.

The findings could help fuel the debate over whether affirmative action programs, which were established in large part to help African-Americans overcome the vestiges of slavery and segregation, should also be used for the broader aim of creating more racially diverse learning environments.

Douglas S. Massey, a Princeton sociology professor and one of the authors of the report, said colleges might not necessarily be consciously choosing to admit immigrant or second-generation black students for the sake of diversity. He said admissions officers might simply look at applicants’ race, without paying much attention to their family backgrounds.

“I don’t think there was a place on the form for where your parents were born,” Mr. Massey said.

The study indicates that blacks from immigrant families who attend selective colleges come from somewhat more advantaged backgrounds than black students whose families have lived in the United States for generations. More than 70 percent of black immigrant students reported that their fathers hold college degrees, compared with just over 55 percent of U.S.-native blacks and more than 85 percent of whites.

A version of this article appeared in the February 14, 2007 edition of Education Week

Events

This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
School & District Management
Moving the Needle on Attendance: What’s Working NOW
See how family engagement is improving attendance, and how to put it to work in schools.
Content provided by TalkingPoints
This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
Assessment Webinar
Rethinking STEM Assessment: Strategies for Administrators
School and district leaders will explore strategies to enhance STEM assessment practices across their district, within schools and classrooms.
Content provided by Project Lead The Way
Federal Webinar Keeping Up with the Trump Administration's Latest K-12 Moves: Subscriber-Exclusive Quick Hit
EdWeek subscribers, join this 30-minute webinar to find out what the latest federal policy changes mean for K-12 education.

EdWeek Top School Jobs

Teacher Jobs
Search over ten thousand teaching jobs nationwide — elementary, middle, high school and more.
View Jobs
Principal Jobs
Find hundreds of jobs for principals, assistant principals, and other school leadership roles.
View Jobs
Administrator Jobs
Over a thousand district-level jobs: superintendents, directors, more.
View Jobs
Support Staff Jobs
Search thousands of jobs, from paraprofessionals to counselors and more.
View Jobs

Read Next

Equity & Diversity Opinion Let DEI Practices Die. Replace Them With Something Better
Individual student agency enabled by strong families and schools can lead students to success, writes a researcher.
Robert Maranto
5 min read
Secretary of Education Linda McMahon meets with students during a visit to Vertex Partnership Academies in New York on March 7, 2025.
Secretary of Education Linda McMahon meets with students during a visit to Vertex Partnership Academies in New York City on March 7, 2025.
Courtesy of U.S. Department of Education
Equity & Diversity Opinion Boys Are Struggling in School. What Can Be Done?
Girls outpace boys at nearly every level of academic achievement. Author Richard Reeves shares his thoughts.
6 min read
The United States Capitol building as a bookcase filled with red, white, and blue policy books in a Washington DC landscape.
Luca D'Urbino for Education Week
Equity & Diversity Anti-DEI Policies Are Ramping Up—With Big Implications for College Access
A new study looks at how students of color could be affected by policies that ban DEI efforts.
6 min read
Three high school boys and one high school girl work together on an experiment in AP chemistry class.
Three high school boys and one high school girl work together on an experiment in AP chemistry class.
Allison Shelley for All4Ed
Equity & Diversity Opinion How Education Leaders Should Respond to the Anti-DEI Crowd
Decades of essential equity-based work is under threat in our schools today, warns Joshua P. Starr.
Joshua P. Starr
4 min read
202503 Opinion Starr DEI 2155439727
iStock/Getty Images