One of the major reasons that people cite for wanting to immigrate to the United States is that they want to create a better life for their children. This can mean a lot of things, but it often involves giving them educational opportunities they would not have had elsewhere.
For evidence of this, consider parental education levels. For children with at least one parent who is an immigrant, 21% of them had both parents with less than a high school diploma. If you look at children whose parents were both born in the United States, that drops to 5%. This suggests that parents may not have been able to get a high school education in their home countries, which may be why they wanted to enter the U.S. — to ensure that their own children could have that opportunity.
The same was true for college degrees. For children with one or two immigrant parents, just 36% could say that one of those parents had a college degree. For children with two parents who were born in the United States, that rose to 42%. While this divide is not as great, it can still show why parents seek to increase these numbers for their families.
The good news is that the U.S. does offer a lot of educational options to young people. There are unique opportunities here, and they can change a person’s life. Those who are interested in immigrating to seek this type of life for their children need to know what legal options they have and exactly what steps to take to protect their children’s future.