Educational Attainment, Income Levels and Africans in the United States: The Paradox of Nigerian Immigrants

Abstract

In the United States, high levels of educational attainment tend to result in higher annual incomes. Nigerian immigrants in the United States in particular, but African immigrants in general are among the most educated groups in the country. There is a paradox, however, whereby the high level of educational attainment of Nigerian immigrants in the United States does not result in higher incomes. This paper examines the factors responsible for Nigerian immigrants in the United States being among the most educated groups in 1990, but earned substantially less in both median household and family incomes than the national average.