The response of Asian Americans to the American system and to discrimination and the success they have achieved through their method of response is researched in this study. The relationship between the high Asian American investment in education (in terms of years of schooling completed) and observed income distribution is analyzed. Census data are evaluated in terms of two basic human capital investment models. The theory of human capital investment in education and its relationship to economic discrimination are discussed. Application of the models to Asian Americans indicates that: (1) returns to education are greater for native born than for foreign born Asian Americans; (2) returns are greater for Asian Americans in Hawaii than on the Mainland United States in relation to the dominant group; (3) economic discrimination towards Asian Americans continues to exist. (Author/WI)