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Hmong Americans, Education of

The education of Hmong Americans, although unique in many important respects, is analogous to the education of other Southeast Asian refugees in the United States. Hmong American students are diverse, especially with respect to residence, generational status, bilingual ability, socioeconomic status, and educational attainment. This entry provides an overview of Hmong American students and their educational attainment, describes the research on Hmong American students since the 1980s, and discusses the chronic institutional barriers to Hmong American students' educational success and advancement.

Who and Where Are Hmong American Students?

Hmong American students comprise the first, 1.5, and second generation children of Hmong former refugees from Laos who began migrating to the United States starting in the late 1970s. It is not known whether, or to what extent, the second generation of Hmong American students (U.S.-born offspring of first generation persons) outnumber Hmong American students of the first (persons born and socialized in a foreign country who immigrated during adulthood) and 1.5 generations (foreign-born but immigrated during childhood). What is known is that of the 186,000 Hmong Americans enumerated in the U.S. Census 2000, 44% are U.S.-born and 56% are below the age of 18. This means that a majority of Hmong American students are young persons, persons who attend school in grades kindergarten through 12, and persons just coming of age. It is common to find Hmong American students who speak White Hmong and Mong Leng dialects in addition to English. However, given the dearth of native language training schools and states' emphases on English monolingualism, not all Hmong American students can read and write Hmong. Mostly of low-income background, the vast majority of Hmong American students attend public schools, including public charter schools, rather than private schools.

The total number of Hmong American students enrolled in U.S. public kindergarten through high schools during 2010 was between 95,000 and 105,000. Although they can be found throughout western, eastern, and midwestern cities of the United States, Hmong American students are concentrated in California, Minnesota, Wisconsin, and North Carolina. California's public K–12 schools enroll about 30,000 Hmong American students, with significant concentrations in the Fresno Unified and Sacramento Unified School Districts. Minnesota's public schools enroll about 22,000 Hmong American students, many of whom attend schools in the Saint Paul and Minneapolis Public Schools. Furthermore, in some of these states, the proportion of Hmong students classified as English Learners is significant. For instance, in California, from 1995 to 2005, Hmong-speaking students composed the third largest category of English Learners after Vietnamese and Spanish-speaking students.

Educational Attainment

Considering their origin as refugees and their recency in the United States, Hmong Americans have made significant progress in educational attainment since the 1990s. Whereas in 1990, only 11% of Hmong Americans 25 years old and over had obtained a high school diploma and 3% had obtained a bachelor's degree, by 2000, 27% had graduated with high school diplomas, 12% had graduated with associate's or bachelor's degrees, and 1.5% had graduated with master's degrees or higher. Although these educational attainment rates are still quite low when compared to those of the U.S. population of 25 years old and over (50% obtained high school diplomas, 22% obtained associate's or bachelor's degrees, and 9% obtained master's degrees or higher), they are comparable to those of other Southeast Asian refugees, such as Cambodians, Laotians, and Vietnamese, who are socially and economically disadvantaged.

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