Indian migrants top list of educated global pool in US at 14%: Think tank

The data trend for H-1B workers, a term used to describe foreign professionals in the US, showed that in 2022-23, over 72 per cent of approved H-1B petitions were for workers from India

Indian migrants have emerged as the largest group of educated immigrants in the US, accounting for 14 per cent of the global pool of educated immigrants, according to a study by the Migration Policy Institute (MPI), a US-based think tank.

As of 2022, there were more than 14 million college educated migrants in the US. The report noted that 48 per cent of migrants who arrived in the US between 2018 and 2022 held a college degree, with Indians being 2 million or 14 per cent of this group. The study accounts for people older than 25 years.

“...the top countries of origin for all college-educated immigrants were India (14 per cent), China (including Hong Kong; about 8 per cent) … These countries were among the top senders of immigrant college graduates who arrived from 2018 to 2022, but a larger share came from India (20 per cent)...,” the report, published on September 12, said.

Photo credit: Migration Policy Institute

In 2022, 68 per cent of college-educated immigrants were younger than 55 years old, it said. This figure is higher compared to US born graduates who make up 61 per cent in this age group.

The data trend for H-1B workers, a term used to describe foreign professionals in the US, showed that in the financial year 2022-23 (FY 2023), over 72 per cent of approved H-1B petitions were for workers from India. The H-1B visa is a non-immigrant visa, typically used by the US tech companies to employ foreign nationals.

Similarly, the data trend for international students in the US showed that in the 2022-23 school year, a total of 1.1 million international students were enrolled in US higher education. Of these, 71 per cent or 748,000 students were Asian. China (290,000 students) and India (267,000) together accounted for over half of the total international student population, the report added.

In 2022, migrants accounted for 18 percent of all civilian employed workers.