People from India are smart and politically ambitious

In mid or late-October, eight students from India will be visiting Winthrop University.

I already knew that Indians are smart, and maybe you did too, but you may not be aware that:

•32.5% of Indian Americans have bachelor's degrees, while only 17.5% of the U.S. population have these degrees

•the median household income of Indian Americans is $90,528, compared to $52,029 for the U.S. population

•nearly 38% of Indian Americans held advanced degrees in 2008, compared with 10.2% for the U.S. population

•6 Indian American candidates are running for the U.S. House of Representatives this year

•Nikki Haley, who was born Nimrata Randhawa, is the Republican nominee for governor of South Carolina. (I didn't know Nikki was of Indian ancestry. Ms. Haley's photo accompanies this blog post.)

•Bobby Jindal, governor of Louisiana, is an Indian American

For more info. about one of our nation's most affluent, educated immigrant groups, read this article in USA TODAY.