About the Foreign-Born Population in the U.S. Statistics for the Year 2000 EDUCATION • ESL programs are the fastest growing component of state-administered adult education programs. In 1997-98, 48% of enrollments were in ESL programs, compared to 33% in 1993-94. Of these 48% enrollees, 32% were in beginning ESL classes, 12% in intermediate, and 4% in advanced. (U.S. Department of Education) Education Attainment Level Less than High School Graduate High School Graduate Some College Education Bachelor’s Degree or More
Foreign-Born 33% 25% 16.2% 25.8%
Native-Born 13.4% 34.3% 26.7% 25.6%
• 18.7% of the European foreign-born were less than high school graduates; 16.2% of the Asian foreign-born; 5.1% of the African foreign-born; 50.4% of the Latin American foreign-born; 62.7% of the Central American foreign-born; 20.3% of the South American foreign-born; and 14.5% of the North American foreign-born. (Schmidley) POPULATION • 10.4% of the U.S. population were foreign-born, compared to 7.9% in 1990. (Schmidley) In terms of size of population: (in a rank of states) • Virginia ranked 9th by population of foreign-born: total population, 6,842,000; and foreign-born population, 526,000. • Virginia ranked 17th by percentage of population: the foreign-born in Virginia comprise 7.7% of the total population. • Virginia ranked 9th by the increase in the number of foreign-born from 1990-2000, with a 214,000 increase (69%). California ranked the highest with an increase of 8,612,000 (44%). (Camorata) In terms of place of birth: • In the U.S., 51% of foreign-born were born in Latin America; 25.5% in Asia; 15.3% in Europe; 2.5% in Northern America; 5.7% in other areas. (Schmidley) • In Virginia, 44% of foreign-born were born in Asia; 32% in Latin America; 15% in Europe; 2% in Northern America; 7% in other areas. (U.S. Bureau of Census) ETHNIC/RACIAL IDENTITY • 45.2% of foreign-born were of Hispanic origin (of any race); 24.8% were White non-Hispanic; 23.6% were Asian and Pacific Islander; and 7.8% were Black. (Schmidley) CITIZENSHIP • Of a total 28.4 million foreign-born in the U.S., 37% were naturalized citizens. (Schmidley) • In Virginia, 43% of foreign-born were naturalized citizens. (U.S. Bureau of Census)
References Camorata, Steven, A., Immigrants in the United States – 2000: A Snapshot of America’s Foreign-Born Population, Center for Immigration Studies: Washington, DC, 2001 Schmidley, Dianne, A., Current Population Reports, Series P23-206., Profile of the Foreign-Born Population in the Unites States: 2000 U.S. Government Printing Office: Washington, DC, 2001 Sum, Andrew, Irwin Kirsch, and Robert Taggart, The Twin Challenges of Mediocrity and Inequality: Literacy in the U.S. from an International Perspective, Educational Testing Service, Princeton, NJ, 2002 U.S. Bureau of Census, Census 2000 Supplementary Survey Summary Tables: Table QT-02 Profile of selected Social characteristics: 2000, U.S. Bureau of Census, Washington, DC http://factfinder.census.gov/home/en/c2ss.html U.S. Department of Education, OVAE, Adult Education: Human Investment Impact 1994-98, U.S. Department of Education, OVAE, Washington, DC, 1999 www.ed.gov/offices/OVAE/9499hinvest.html
progress newsletter
5
fall 2002
