African immigrants to the United States (not to be confused with Black Americans, who are the descendants of former slaves) are the most academically successful social group in the United States, and one of the most prosperous.

According to The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education, 48.9% of all African immigrants hold a college diploma. This makes them not only the most successful immigrant group, but the most successful ethnic group overall in the United States. For comparison, this is double the percent of White Americans with a college degree, and quadruple the percent of all Black Americans with a college degree. 19.4% percent of African adult immigrants hold a graduate degree, compared to 8.1% of whites and 3.8% of blacks.

Africans have the highest high school graduation rate of any immigrant population. Only 7.6% of African immigrants, according to the 2000 U.S. Census, were not fluent in English. This is even lower than than immigrants from Europe, Russia and Canada, who had an 11.5% non-fluency rate combined.

This does not just apply to immigrants fresh off the boat. Studies show that these results are more or less replicated even in second or third generations.

Self-selective immigration bias aside, what does this tell us about black culture in the United States?

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