Education

Early 1900s: Missionary Pathways & Activists

• Syngman Rhee arrives in 1904, going on to earn a B.A. at George Washington University, M.A. at Harvard (1907), and Ph.D. at Princeton (1910)—he becomes the first Korean to obtain a doctorate in the U.S. 

• Philip Jaisohn (Seo Jae‑pil), an early reform activist, studies medicine and later publishes the influential journal Korea Review (1919–1922) with the Korean Students League of America 

1910s–1920s: Expansion & Student Identity

• Following the 1917 U.S. Immigration Act, many Korean migrants entered as “students” to circumvent racial exclusion; they were often political refugees hosted by missionary networks 

• By the 1920s and early 1930s, student organizations such as the Junior Korean Student Club emerge around San Francisco, providing mutual support and cultural education

1930s–1940s: Consolidation & Education Hubs

• In 1934, roughly 2,289 Korean students studied in Hawaii, with nearly 187 graduating—some traveled to California or the East Coast universities 

• Student conferences, such as the 1936 World Student Christian Federation held near Oakland, included dozens of Korean delegates from across the Pacific ﹘ a sign of growing academic presence 

Post‑World War II (1950s–1960s): Second Migration Wave

• After the Korean War, 6,000+ Korean students come to the U.S. on student visas between 1950 and 1965, often enrolled in universities across California and the East Coast ﹘ part of broader migration under Cold War educational exchanges and rebuilding aid

• Chong‑Sik Lee, one notable figure, studies at UCLA in 1954, then completes advanced degrees at UC Berkeley and becomes a renowned political scientist Wikipedia.