The Associated Press

Recent immigrants to Ohio are more likely to have a college degree than foreigners arriving elsewhere in the United States, according to a demographer.

Although Ohio attracts fewer immigrants than most places, the immigrants who do come to the state belong to an elite class.

"It's a small number, but the number is more selective," said William Frey, a University of Michigan demographer who spotted the trend.

About half of the foreign-born adults who arrived in Ohio between 1995 and 2000 graduated from a university, and more than two-thirds had at least some college education, according to an analysis of U.S. Census information.

"These people often get in based on their education, because they have no family here," said Margaret Wong, an immigrant from Hong Kong who founded a Cleveland law firm specializing in immigration issues.

Wong said many Asian Indians and Russians who are new to Cleveland received visas because of their technical savvy or doctoral degrees. She said many are drawn to the region's colleges.

Ohio and other Midwest states also are likely to attract immigrants from Europe and Asia, while the rest of the nation draws from Latin America, Frey said.

Ohio may attract educated immigrants, but it has trouble keeping them, a report released Friday by the Census Bureau shows. The report tracked the foreign-born population across the nation from 1995 to 2000.

Ohio lost more foreigners than it welcomed in the late 1990s.