Record numbers of Burmese Americans enroll in college

Indianapolis, Indiana – Burmese Americans’ success in schooling was emphasized in a pioneering research that was initially released in August.

According to a 2023 research by The Burmese American Community Institute, 88% of Burmese Americans were enrolled in college, a rate that remained steady and in line with pre-pandemic levels. In 2024, the rate increased to a remarkable 94.4%, with 96.9% of students continuing their education, according to the report.

The executive director of the social services group located in Indianapolis, Elaisa Vahnie said. “Our first service commitment was focused more on education and the long-term growth of people, families, and the community. Its goal was to ensure that refugees and newcomers as soon as possible assimilated into society, became economically self-sufficient, and made a positive contribution to the community.

According to a survey by academics at the 2024 Upward College Program, approximately 30,000 Burmese refugees have settled in Indiana out of over 200,000 who fled their native country.

Through education, the Burmese American Community Institute seeks to promote an empowering culture. Vahnie stated, “We all witnessed the COVID-19 pandemic and the swift action that was required to be able to respond to the urgent needs in the community.”

Vahnie highlights that the Burmese American community has become more resilient as a result of worldwide tragedies like the epidemic and the coup in Burma in 2021. Our ability to accept and relocate them here has been tested by those worldwide crises. We consider ourselves lucky to be a part of that warm community by using our special knowledge to assist families in being welcomed and resettled here in order to help them succeed in beginning new lives. We observed that they lacked the language proficiency necessary for college. In Malaysia, their native country, or any other place they went, they were denied the chance to receive a formal education. They are assigned to a grade level based on their age upon arrival, not on their academic history.

Remarkably, the Burmese American Community Institute’s Upward College Program graduates have an astounding 100% post-secondary enrollment record. Their main goal is to keep helping recently arrived foreign nationals effectively assimilate into American culture by offering them jobs, civics and English language training, and help with naturalization.

According to a study, it takes at least four to six years for non-native English speakers—like refugees and Burmese—to acquire all academic English language proficiency, according to Vahnie. Meanwhile, it could take two to five years to become proficient in English conversation. Thus, we created this program so that students may participate.