Education is one of the most frequently used variables in social science research. However,
it is challenging to measure educational attainment with a high degree of validity
and comparability in migrant surveys. In migrant surveys, respondents were educated in
various different educational systems. Rather than providing specific response options for
the qualifications available in every country of origin, migrant surveys often use generic
response options (such as “secondary education”) that supposedly work equally well for
respondents educated in all kinds of educational systems. Given the lack of universal
understanding of such generic categories, we have doubts whether this approach leads to
reliable, valid, and comparable data. To improve the measurement of educational qualifications
obtained abroad, GESIS has developed a new tool in the project “Computer-assisted
measurement and coding of education in surveys” (CAMCES). In this paper, we present
how migrants’ education is usually measured in the German IAB-SOEP Migration Samples
and the alternative measurement using the CAMCES tool implemented in the IAB-SOEP
Migration Samples 2015 and 2016. We analyze the coverage of educational systems in the
CAMCES tool, compare the level of item nonresponse and non-coded responses affecting
the standard and the CAMCES instruments, and examine the consistency of the resulting
education variables. The paper concludes by discussing benefits and limitations of either
measurement approach, and by giving an outlook of possible applications of the CAMCES
tool.