Supporting Southeast Asian American Family and Community Engagement for Educational Success

Abstract

Over the past 40 years, the U.S. has accepted over 2.5 million refugee and immigrants from Southeast Asian (SEA) countries of Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam. Unfortunately after 4 decades of resettlement and assimilation, the SEA community has the lowest levels of educational attainment when compared to other Asian American and Pacific Islander communities. Only 34.3% of Laotian, 38.5% of Cambodian, and 39.6% of Hmong adults over the age of 25 do not have a high school diploma or equivalent. Moreover, 65.8% of Cambodian, 66.5% of Laotian, 63.2% of Hmong, and 51.1% of Vietnamese Americans have not attended college (SEARAC, 2011).