Resources

Publications

Immigrants and the Economy: Contributions of Immigrant Workers to the Country’s 25 Largest Metropolitan Areas

December 2009. David Dyssegaard Kallick. Fiscal Policy Institute. www.fiscalpolicy.org/immigration.html

Prepared as part of FPI’s Immigrant Research Initiative, the report examines the economic role of immigrants in the country’s 25 largest metropolitan areas, focusing on the five largest metro areas in the East: New York, Philadelphia, Washington, Atlanta, and Miami. Immigrants contribute to the economy in direct relation to their share of the population. The economy of metro areas grows in tandem with immigrant share of the labor force, and immigrants work across the occupational spectrum, from high-paying professional jobs to low-wage service jobs.
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Rising to the Immigrant Integration Challenge: What States Are Doing—And Can Do

November 2009. Erin Andrew, Susan Golonka, Martin Simon, and Mary Jo Waits. National Governors’ Association Center for Best Practices. www.nga.org/center

In addition to direct efforts to help legal immigrants obtain services, states are increasingly finding that successful integration requires some important, overarching steps. These include gathering better data about the immigrant population and the benefits of immigrant integration and deploying an effective communications strategy to engage the public constructively in areas where they have concerns. This issue brief discusses some promising structures and approaches to immigrant integration at the state level, including partnerships with community colleges.
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What Works for Latino Students in Higher Education: 2009 Compendium Profiles of Selected Programs

October 2009. Deborah A. Santiago, Estela Lopez, Maureen Skoloda. Excelencia in Education. www.edexcelencia.org/category/research-type/informing-institutional-practice

A central component of the Examples of Excelencia initiative, this compendium profiles programs at the forefront of improving higher educational achievement for Latino students, including increased Latino enrollment, performance, and graduation. Describes programs at Pasadena City College, Miami Dade College, Northern Virginia Community College, Victoria College, Truman College, and Durham Technical Community College.
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Building Tomorrow’s Workforce: Promoting the Education and Advancement of Hispanic and Immigrant Workers in America

May 2009. Mary Gershwin, Tammy Coxen, Brian Kelley, Gary Yakimov. Corporation for a Skilled Workforce, The Center for Workforce Success of the National Association of Manufacturers, The National Council for Workforce Education, and Excelencia in Education. www.skilledwork.org/resources/building-tomorrows-workforce

This report describes how strategic partnerships among employers, community colleges, and community organizations can boost our economy over the long-term by training tomorrow’s workers for future jobs. The report highlights six innovative partnerships between community colleges and manufacturers that meet three basic criteria: results with students, employer engagement, and involvement of community college in success of the program.
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Educational Outcomes of I-BEST Washington State Community and Technical College System’s Integrated Basic Education and Skills Training Program: Findings from a Multivariate Analysis http://ccrc.tc.columbia.edu/Publication.asp?UID=692

May 2009. Community College Research Center, Teachers College, Columbia University. Davis Jenkins, Matthew Zeidenberg, Gregory Kienzl.

This paper reports on a CCRC study using multivariate analysis to compare educational outcomes over a two-year tracking period of I-BEST students with those of other basic skills students. Students in the I-BEST program achieved better educational outcomes than did other basic skills students, including continuing into credit-bearing coursework, earning credits that count toward a college credential, earning occupational certificates, and making point gains on basic skills tests.
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Young Lives on Hold: The College Dreams of Undocumented Students

April 2009. Roberto G. Gonzales. College Board. http://professionals.collegeboard.com/policy-advocacy/diversity/undocumented

About 65,000 undocumented students graduate from U.S. high schools each year to encounter significant barriers to higher education and continued development. As a result, only a small fraction of these youth attend college. The report calls for a humane and comprehensive resolution to the legal barriers that hinder undocumented students from going to college and participating fully in society. It promotes the DREAM Act as a bipartisan policy solution that would open the door to college for tens of thousands of students.
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Building Washington’s Future: Immigrant Workers’ Contributions to Our State’s Economy

April 2009. Pramila Jayapal and Sarah Curry. OneAmerica. www.weareoneamerica.org

This report focuses on the immigrant contributions to the state’s economy and outlines the role of immigrants in the work force and their direct contributions as taxpayers, consumers and workers in a variety of industries.
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Uneven Progress: The Employment Pathways of Skilled Immigrants in the United States

October 2008. Jeanne Batalova, Michael Fix, with Peter A. Creticos. Migration Policy Institute. www.migrationpolicy.org

More than 1.3 million college-educated immigrants living in the United States are unemployed or working as taxi drivers, dishwashers, security guards or in other unskilled jobs because they are unable to make full use of their academic and professional credentials. This report, for the first time, quantifies the scope of the 'brain waste' problem that affects 22 percent of the 6.1 million immigrants with a bachelor's degree or higher who are in the U.S. labor market. The report analyzes and offers possible solutions for the credentialing and language-barrier hurdles that deprive the U.S. economy of a rich source of human capital at a time of increasing competition globally for skilled talent. Read More
The Vital Role of Community Colleges in the Education and Integration of Immigrants

October 2008. Christopher Connell, Grantmakers Concerned with Immigrants and Refugees. www.gcir.org/publications/gcirpubs/college

This report notes how community colleges have become an important force for change in adult basic education. They are playing an expanding role in meeting the educational and vocational needs of immigrants and refugees, especially those facing the dual challenge of earning a degree or certificate while learning English.
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Opening the Door to the American Dream: Increasing Higher Education Access and Success for Immigrants

April 2007. Wendy Erisman and Shannon Looney. Institute for Higher Education Policy. www.ihep.org/Publications/publications-detail.cfm?id=55

This report describes the demographic and educational characteristics of the U.S. immigrant population and discusses barriers faced by legal immigrants seeking to enroll in postsecondary education. The report focuses on older immigrants, who confront signiﬁcant challenges because they did not attend American primary and secondary schools, and also examines the characteristics of and the barriers to persistence and completion faced by immigrant students who do enroll in college. Describes three state case studies, Georgia, California and New York.
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Update: State Policies Regarding In-State Tuition for Undocumented Students

March 2007. Achieving the Dream, Jobs for the Future. www.jff.org www.achievingthedream.org/PUBLICPOLICY/POLICYBRIEFSPUBS/default.tp

This policy brief updates the earlier January 2005 brief Access to Community College for Undocumented Students: A Guide for State Policymakers, which noted that about 20 states had introduced bills providing in-state tuition to undocumented immigrant students, and seven states had passed legislation awarding in-state tuition to these students. In 2006, the number of states that had introduced legislation rose to 30. By 2007, ten states had passed legislation awarding in-state tuition to students.
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Passing the Torch: Strategies for Innovation in Community College ESL

February 2007. Forrest P. Chisman and JoAnn Crandall. Council for Advancement of Adult Literacy. www.caalusa.org/publications.html

The report offers an in-depth look at five exemplary community college ESL programs, with a focus on non-credit ESL, and including Bunker Hill Community College, City College of San Francisco, College of Lake County, Seminole Community College, and Yakima Valley Community College. A variety of strategies are examined, and programs are considered in terms of generating learning gains, retaining students, and bringing about transitions to further education. Key barriers to taking the successful programs and practices to scale are also examined.
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Access and Achievement of Hispanics and Hispanic Immigrants in the Colleges of the City University of New York.

April 2006. D. Timothy Leinbach, Thomas R. Bailey. Community College Research Center, Teachers College, Columbia University. http://ccrc.tc.columbia.edu/Publication.asp?uid=381

To examine the extent to which CUNY provides Hispanic native-born and immigrant students with access and the opportunity for achievement, this study was conducted using 1990 and 2000 student demographic, enrollment, credit accumulation, and outcome data. Relative to their proportions in the city, Hispanics at CUNY are over-represented by native-born students and under-represented by immigrants. Hispanic attainment at CUNY is less than that of other populations, with the contrast between Hispanic and other immigrants greatest.
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Access to Community College for Undocumented Immigrants: A Guide for State PolicyMakers

January 2005. Radha Roy Biswas. Achieving the Dream Initiative, Jobs for the Future. www.achievingthedream.org/PUBLICPOLICY/POLICYBRIEFSPUBS/default.tp

This policy brief highlights actions taken by states and institutions to improve the access of undocumented students to education opportunities. Focused on five states participating in the Initiative and experiencing large or rapidly growing immigrant populations: Florida, New Mexico, North Carolina, Texas, and Virginia. Also looks at recent developments in several other states, including Kansas and Arizona.
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Canadian Colleges & Institutes: Responding to the Needs of Immigrants
March 2004. The Association of Canadian Community Colleges. www.accc.ca

The results of this diagnostic survey, based on 46 Canadian community colleges, provide a snapshot of how colleges and universities are meeting the needs of immigrants within their communities, including initiatives that facilitate foreign credentialing recognition, language training programs, career and technical programs, advising and counseling services, and partnerships. The report also provides an overview of the barriers faced by colleges and institutes in delivering these services, the barriers faced by immigrants trying to access these programs and services, and the lessons learned. The survey was conducted as part of the federal government’s initiative to develop an Immigration Internet Portal. Read more.