Considerable research investigates the immigrant advantage, yet little work examines the influence of school-based linguistic status. Contradictory patterns exist: research identifies both an immigrant advantage and a language minority disadvantage in college going. Although not all immigrant youth are language minorities, many do speak a language other than English. Educators in U.S. schools group immigrant students into three discrete linguistic categories: native English speakers, language minorities not in ESL, and English learner (EL) students. We employ multivariate methods to investigate immigrant college going by linguistic status using the Educational Longitudinal Study of 2002. Results suggest an immigrant advantage only among the two immigrant groups not in ESL, and evidence of undermatching—wherein students choose post-secondary options for which they are over prepared—among high achieving EL students. Expanded understanding of the immigrant advantage might improve EL students’ pathways into college, stemming this loss of human capital.
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