October 2024

The Educational Attainment of Chicago Public Schools Students: 2023

  • Shelby Mahaffie
  • Alexandra Usher
  • Jenny Nagaoka
  • Dominique McKoy
Appendices To&Through Milestones Tool Data Definitions

Photo by Nirat.pix

If current rates hold, 31% of current CPS ninth-graders would complete a college credential within 10 years.

This annual analysis provides a district-level view of Chicago Public Schools (CPS) students’ patterns of educational attainment. It presents a starting place for thinking about why these patterns exist and what can be done to improve these patterns.

We focus on three key milestones—high school graduation, college enrollment, and college completion—and use them to calculate a Post-secondary Attainment Index (PAI). Where possible, we disaggregate the data by race/ethnicity and gender, disability status, and English Learner (EL) status.

The PAI and its components are best understood as a measure of progress over time rather than point-in-time estimates for a particular cohort. We therefore recommend focusing more on long-term trends than on year-to-year fluctuations. Continue scrolling for more details on each of these components and key findings for each. To see what these 2023 attainment rates and educational milestones look like in your school or community, visit the online To&Through Milestones Tool.

Fully supporting CPS students throughout their high school and post-secondary journeys will likely require an unprecedented level of investment and new partnerships across the city. We also need an understanding of the lived experiences of CPS students and graduates impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic to inform investments, partnerships, and changes to practice. See the stories the To&Through Project has collected so far: https://toandthrough.uchicago.edu/resources/cps-student-stories.

Post-secondary Attainment Index

Figure 1 2023 Post-secondary Attainment Index

Of 100 2023–24 ninth-graders, 31 would earn a college credential by the time they're about 25 years old, if current rates of attainment stayed the same

Bar chart of attainment milestones Number of Students 100 ninth-graders Ninth-graders 85 graduates Graduate from high school 43 4-year college enrollees 14 2-year college enrollees 57 total enrollees Immediately enroll in college 24 bachelor’s degree completers 7 — associate degree/ certificate completers 31 would complete a college credential within 10 years Complete any credential
The high school graduation rates used in calculating the PAI are the four-year high school graduation rates, and the denominators of all college enrollment and completion rates are also limited to students who graduated from high school within four years. For this reason, the enrollment and completion rates used to calculate the PAI shown in Figure 1 do not match the enrollment and completion rates shown in Figures 7–15), which include CPS high school graduates who graduated high school in five or six years. The exact enrollment and completion rates used to calculate the PAI are available in Appendix A, Table A.1.

Photos by Jasmin Awad / Nate Umstead / Alfredo Lietor / baona for Getty Images.

The PAI1 represents the proportion of current CPS ninth-graders who would complete any degree or certificate from a two-year or four-year college within 10 years, if current high school and college attainment rates were to hold constant over the next decade. To find the attainment rates2 used to calculate the PAI, see the Appendices.

The PAI shows the combined influence of high school graduation, college enrollment, and college graduation patterns on eventual degree attainment. Note that the PAI is not intended to be a prediction of what will happen. Continued efforts to improve rates of attainment will hopefully result in more CPS students completing high school and college. The PAI is intended to summarize current rates of high school and college attainment and put these rates in context with one another, as a starting place for thinking about why these patterns exist and what can be done to change these patterns.

Key Points — 2023 PAI

  • If 2023 rates held over the next decade, of 100 current CPS ninth-graders, 85 would graduate from high school within four years.
  • Of those 85 high school graduates, 43 would immediately enroll in a four-year college, 14 would immediately enroll in a two-year college, and 28 would not immediately enroll in college.
  • Six years after high-school graduation, a total of 31 of the original 85 high school graduates would have completed a college credential—24 with a bachelor's degree and 7 with an associate degree or certificate.3
  • The 2023 PAI of 30.6%, which we report rounding to whole numbers as 31%, shows a 0.4 percentage point increase over the 2022 PAI of 30.2%.4

2023 PAI by Race/Ethnicity and Gender

Before examining the PAI for different student groups, it is critical to restate that the PAI should be understood as the product of the cumulative effects of historical and present systemic racism, including oppressive policies and structures in high schools and colleges. The PAI also reflects the broader context of systemic racism that differentially impacts rates of attainment by race/ethnicity and gender. We report these numbers to contribute to critical examinations about how those working within the education field can change practices and disrupt policies that have contributed to these inequitable outcomes. To learn more about how we disaggregate by race/ethnicity and gender, please reference the box Interpreting Disaggregated Data Within the Context of Structural Oppression and the "Data Definitions" section of the Appendices.

Rates for Native American/Alaskan students are reported in the figure notes on Figures 2, 4, and 8, combining information across cohorts to meet the minimum reporting sizes.

Interpreting Disaggregated Data Within the Context of Structural Oppression

Where possible, we disaggregate data by race/ethnicity and gender, disability status, and English Learner (EL) status to understand which students face more barriers to educational attainment and where different strategies and supports are needed. We report these numbers to contribute to critical examinations about whether high schools and colleges are making progress toward fostering equitable outcomes, and how high schools and colleges can further change practices and disrupt policies contributing to inequitable outcomes.

We urge readers to examine disaggregated rates of educational attainment within the context of structural oppression—particularly the history and present reality of systemic racism—while moving through the stages of questioning needed to affect change. There is a considerable body of research that has informed our understanding of the role that systemic racism plays in Chicago’s schools and history, which we recommend as a starting place for readers seeking to learn more.A Specifically, we hope readers will…

  • Interrogate how disparities in attainment are due to issues of equity—particularly racial equity—within the district and higher education institutions in addition to the broader context of systemic racism in which schools are situated.
  • Beyond questioning why these disparities exist, question what can be done, both within and outside of education, to change them.
  • Understand that, while important, examining these data is only a part of the efforts necessary to determine what questions should be asked to understand and improve students’ experiences at CPS and after graduation.

Finally, limitations to note include:

  • We do not have information on students who pursue post-secondary pathways other than a college degree such as the workforce or the military. We are also limited by the data CPS collects on students’ race/ethnicity,B gender,C disability status, English Learner status,D and other identifiers.
  • These data represent individual students who face and overcome barriers to educational attainment every day. Students can bring a wealth of lived experience to bear on the inequitable policies and practices that prevent CPS students from reaching their full potential.
Figure 2 2023 Post-secondary Attainment Index by race/ethnicity and gender
Bar chart comparing data 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100% Post-secondary Attainment Index All students 23.9% 6.7% 30.6% Asian/Pacific Islander young women 59.9% 6.6% 66.6% Asian/Pacific Islander young men 50.7% 6.9% 57.6% Black young women 19.6% 4.1% 23.7% Black young men 9.5% 2.6% 12.1% Latina young women 28.8% 9.6% 38.4% Latino young men 15.3% 6.4% 21.6% White young women 57.3% 5.5% 62.7% White young men 44.0% 5.7% 49.7% Bachelor’s degree completers Associate degree/certificate completers
The high school graduation rates used in calculating the PAI are the four-year high school graduation rates, and the denominators of all college enrollment and completion rates are also limited to students who graduated from high school within four years. For this reason, the enrollment and completion rates used to calculate the PAI shown in Figure 1 do not match the enrollment and completion rates shown in Figures 7–15), which include CPS high school graduates who graduated high school in five or six years. The exact enrollment and completion rates used to calculate the PAI are available in Appendix A, Table A.1. Data for Multiracial, Native American/Alaskan Native, and students who didn't report their race/ethnicity in CPS records are not included because we suppressed rates for groups of fewer than 100 students to avoid reporting fluctuations in rates that do not reflect consistent trends in student outcomes. Historically, data has been collected in a way that groups students into one of two categories: male and female. Starting in 2020–21, the gender categories in the CPS demographic questionnaire were: male, female, and non-binary; however, we are not currently reporting data on non-binary students due to small group sizes. Due to rounding, individual rates may not sum exactly to the total rate displayed.

Key Point — 2023 PAI by Race/Ethnicity and Gender

  • In 2023, 66% of CPS ninth-graders indicated that they aspired to obtain at least an associate degree or certificate.5 However, of the eight race/ethnicity groups displayed in Figure 2, only one (Asian/Pacific Islander young women) would have at least 66% of students attain a college degree or certificate in 10 years, if the most recent available rates of attainment for CPS students were not to change over the next decade.

CPS Rates of Attainment Reported by the UChicago To&Through Project

The To&Through Project also reports rates of attainment—high school graduation, college enrollment, and college completion—and more for each CPS high school and each community area in Chicago on the To&Through Milestones Tool.

Both this report and the Tool share annual data. This web page is updated annually, to report on how attainment rates are changing in the district year-over-year. The Tool is typically also updated annually, but may also have more frequent updates to provide users with timely data. In that case, data on the Tool may differ from the data on this report web page.

Photo by paseidon for Pixabay

High School Graduation Rate — CPS

Among 2019–20 first-time ninth-graders,
85% graduated from high school by spring 2023. This is the highest rate we have ever reported.

For detailed information on how this metric is calculated, see the Appendices.

Figure 3 Four-year high school graduation rates of CPS ninth-grade cohorts over time
Time plot of data trends 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100% Percent of CPS ninth-graders 2008 26,920 students 2009 26,859 students 2010 27,273 students 2011 26,084 students 2012 27,141 students 2013 26,710 students 2014 26,297 students 2015 26,062 students 2016 26,241 students 2017 26,287 students 2018 26,817 students 2019 26,270 students 2020 25,567 students 2021 26,025 students 2022 25,683 students 2023 25,091 students High school graduation year (spring) 62.2% 65.5% 66.8% 69.7% 72.5% 75.4% 78.0% 78.7% 79.7% 80.3% 81.0% 82.2% 83.3% 82.0% 84.1% 85.0%
All CPS high school students, including charter and Options school students, were included in this analysis. Students were counted as high school graduates if they completed high school within four years of their first-time ninth-grade year of high school—the 2023 high school graduation year rate, for example, represents students who began high school in the fall of 2019. Ns represent the total number of ninth-graders in each cohort. While students who transferred between CPS schools were included in this analysis, Students who transferred to a non-CPS school during high school were excluded from this analysis.

Key Points — 2023 CPS High School Graduation Rate

  • Aside from the slight decline in 2021, the high school graduation rate has steadily increased each year over the past decade, from 75.4% in 2013 to 85.0% in 2023.
  • The high school graduation rate of CPS students increased by around 1 percentage point, from 84.1% in 2022 to 85.0% in 2023. The 2022 school year was the second year affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, and the only school year when the majority of instructional days were remote in CPS.

Disaggregated Data — High School Graduation

Race/Ethnicity and Gender–disaggregated High School Graduation data

Figure 4 Four-year high school graduation rates by race/ethnicity and gender 2019–20 CPS ninth-grade cohort
Bar chart comparing data 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100% Percent graduated high school by spring 2023 All students 25,091 students 85.0% Asian/Pacific Islander young women 545 students 95.8% Asian/Pacific Islander young men 559 students 93.0% Black young women 4,461 students 85.4% Black young men 4,077 students 78.2% Latina young women 5,948 students 88.0% Latino young men 6,287 students 82.8% White young women 1,230 students 92.5% White young men 1,234 students 90.0%
All CPS high school students, including charter and Options school students, were included in this analysis. Students were counted as high school graduates if they completed high school within four years of their first-time ninth-grade year of high school. While students who transferred between CPS schools were included in this analysis, Students who transferred to a non-CPS school during high school were excluded from this analysis. The number of students in each of the race/ethnicity and gender categories does not sum to the number of students in the “All students” category because there were some students whose specific race/ethnicity groups are not shown in the figure, but who are included in the overall numbers. Specifically, Native American/Alaskan Native students, Multiracial students, and students whose did not report their race/ethnicity are not shown because fewer than 100 students identified in each of those categories, making it difficult to reliably interpret rates. When combined together (in order to meet minimum cohort reporting sizes), Native American/Alaskan Native young women (101 students) from the last three graduating classes graduated from high school at a rate of 87.2%, while Native American/Alaskan Native young men from the last three graduating classes (111 students) graduated from high school at a rate of 73.9%. Historically, data has been collected in a way that groups students into one of two categories: male and female. Starting in 2020–21, the gender categories in the CPS demographic questionnaire were: male, female, and non-binary; however, we are not currently reporting data on non-binary students due to small group sizes.
Key Points — High School Graduation Rate by Race/Ethnicity and Gender
  • Within each race/ethnicity group, young men graduated from high school at a rate lower than young women of the same race/ethnicity.
  • The graduation rates for Black young men (78.2%) and Latino young men (82.8%) were below the district average (85.0%).

To learn more about how we disaggregate by race/ethnicity and gender, see the Appendices. To track high school graduation rates disaggregated by race/ethnicity and gender over time, see the To&Through Milestones Tool.6

English Learner Status–disaggregated High School Graduation data

Figure 5 Four-year high school graduation rates by English Learner (EL) status 2019–20 CPS ninth-grade cohort
Bar chart comparing data 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100% Percent graduated high school by spring 2023 All students 25,091 students 85.0% Active English Learners 2,416 students 82.2% Former English Learners 6,392 students 89.0% Never English Learners 15,843 students 84.1%
All CPS high school students, including charter and Options school students, were included in this analysis. Students were counted as high school graduates if they completed high school within four years of their first-time ninth-grade year of high school. While students who transferred between CPS schools were included in this analysis, Students who transferred to a non-CPS school during high school were excluded from this analysis. The “Former English Learners” category includes students who took the ACCESS test at any point after their entry into CPS and then later demonstrated English proficiency (scoring above the cut score) on the ACCESS test, and thus were no longer classified as active English Learners at any point during high school. The “Active English Learners” category includes students who were active English Learners at some point during high school. We define students who were never classified as English Learners as students who were never eligible to receive EL services, either because their native language was English or because they took the English proficiency screening test when they began school in CPS and scored high enough to be considered proficient in English. The three EL status categories do not sum to the total N for all students because some students are missing an EL status due to data anomalies. Students can exit out of EL status as early as the first year during which they were classified as English Learners, including if that year is kindergarten. CPS kindergarteners who were designated as English Learners and exited out of EL status at the end of kindergarten are included in former English Learners. Many students who began as English Learners exited out of EL status by the third grade. Furthermore, most students who began as English Learners exited out of EL status by the time they reached high school. About one in five students who began as English Learners remained classified as English Learners upon high school enrollment (de la Torre et al, 2019).
Key Points — High School Graduation Rate by English Learner Status
  • Among 2019–20 ninth-graders, students formerly classified as English Learners as of ninth grade graduated from high school at a higher rate (89.0%) than students who had never been classified as English Learners (84.1%).
  • Students who were still classified as English Learners as of ninth grade graduated from high school at a slightly lower rate (82.2%) than students who had never been classified as English Learners (84.1%).

To learn more about how and why we disaggregate data by EL status, see the Figure 5 note and the Appendices.

Disability Status–disaggregated High School Graduation data

Figure 6 Four-year CPS high school graduation rates by disability category 2019–20 CPS ninth-grade cohort
Bar chart comparing data 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100% Percent graduated high school by spring 2023 All students 25,091 students 85.0% Students with an IEP related to a learning disability 2,513 students 81.8% Students with an IEP related to another disability 1,510 students 55.9% Students without an IEP 21,068 students 87.5%
All CPS high school students, including charter and Options school students, were included in this analysis. Students were counted as high school graduates if they completed high school within four years of their first-time ninth-grade year of high school. While students who transferred between CPS schools were included in this analysis, Students who transferred to a non-CPS school during high school were excluded from this analysis. Please see the Appendices for details about the disability categories used in this table.
Key Points — High School Graduation Rate by Disability Status

  • Among 2019–20 first-time ninth-graders, students with a learning disability graduated from high school within four years at a rate that approaches the four-year district average of 85.0%.

    • The four-year graduation rate for the 2,513 2019–20 CPS ninth-graders receiving services related to a learning disability was 81.8%.
  • The four-year graduation rate for the 1,510 2019–20 CPS ninth-graders receiving services related to another disability was 55.9%.

An Individualized Education Program (IEP) is a legal document to provide a plan for services and supports for students with disabilities in public schools. There are also students with disabilities that are not captured by the IEP label alone. To learn how we disaggregate by disability status, see the Appendices.

Photo by Alfredo Lietor for Getty Images

Immediate College Enrollment Rate — CPS

Among the CPS graduating class of 2023,
63% enrolled in a two-year or four-year college in the first summer or fall following high school graduation.7

For detailed information on how this metric is calculated, see the Appendices.

Figure 7 Immediate college enrollment of CPS graduates over time
Time plot of data trends 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100% Percent of CPS graduates 2010 20,218 students 2011 20,413 students 2012 22,011 students 2013 22,613 students 2014 22,827 students 2015 22,885 students 2016 23,011 students 2017 23,024 students 2018 23,465 students 2019 23,222 students 2020 22,629 students 2021 22,579 students 2022 23,288 students 2023 22,601 students High school graduation year (spring) 35.0% 38.0% 36.6% 38.0% 38.9% 40.1% 41.9% 43.4% 41.9% 42.6% 42.2% 43.7% 45.0% 47.5% 19.5% 20.3% 20.4% 20.7% 19.8% 17.7% 17.9% 20.9% 21.1% 19.8% 16.5% 15.6% 16.5% 15.7% 54.5% 58.3% 56.9% 58.7% 58.7% 57.8% 59.7% 64.3% 63.1% 62.4% 58.7% 59.3% 61.5% 63.3% Immediate 4-year enrollment Immediate 2-year enrollment
These are immediate college enrollment rates for all CPS high school graduates, including those who graduated high school in five or six years. When broadening the definition of enrollment to include students who first enrolled in the spring following their high school graduation, an additional 413 students (1.8%) from the high school class of 2023 enrolled in college, for a total first-year college enrollment rate of 65.1%. Due to rounding, individual rates may not sum exactly to the total rate displayed.

Key Points — 2023 CPS Immediate College Enrollment Rate

  • The four-year college enrollment rate has increased over time since 2010, but the two-year college enrollment rate has seen more fluctuations and decreased overall.

  • In 2023, the four-year college enrollment rate increased 2.5 percentage points to an all-time high of 47.5%, while the two-year college enrollment rate declined slightly to 15.7%.

Disaggregated Data — Immediate College Enrollment

Race/Ethnicity and Gender–disaggregated Immediate College Enrollment data

Figure 8 Immediate college enrollment rates by race/ethnicity and gender
Bar chart comparing data 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100% Percentage of spring 2023 high school graduates All students 22,601 students 47.5% 15.7% 63.3% Asian/Pacific Islander young women 542 students 70.8% 9.4% 80.3% Asian/Pacific Islander young men 562 students 65.7% 13.2% 78.8% Black young women 4,029 students 50.4% 10.1% 60.5% Black young men 3,567 students 38.0% 9.9% 47.9% Latina young women 5,532 students 49.9% 21.0% 70.9% Latino young men 5,583 students 36.3% 20.7% 56.9% White young women 1,242 students 70.9% 10.5% 81.5% White young men 1,223 students 60.4% 14.6% 75.0% Immediate enrollment in a 4-year college Immediate enrollment in a 2-year college
These are immediate college enrollment rates for all CPS high school graduates, including those who graduated high school in five or six years. The number of students in each of the race/ethnicity and gender categories does not sum to the number of students in the “All students” category because there were some students whose specific race/ethnicity groups are not shown in the figure, but who are included in the overall numbers. Specifically, Native American/Alaskan Native students, Multiracial students, and students whose did not report their race/ethnicity are not shown because fewer than 100 students identified in each of those categories, making it difficult to reliably interpret rates. When combined together (in order to meet minimum cohort reporting sizes), Native American/Alaskan Native young women from the last three graduating classes (99 students) enrolled in a four-year college at a rate of 49.5% and enrolled in a two-year college at a rate of 21.2%. Native American/Alaskan Native young men from the last three graduating classes (84 students) enrolled in a four-year college at a rate of 44.0% and enrolled in a two-year college at a rate of 23.8%. Historically, data has been collected in a way that groups students into one of two categories: male and female. Starting in 2020–21, the gender categories in the CPS demographic questionnaire were: male, female, and non-binary; however, we are not currently reporting data on non-binary students due to small group sizes. Due to rounding, individual rates may not sum exactly to the total rate displayed.
Key Points — Immediate College Enrollment Rate by Race/Ethnicity and Gender
  • Among 2023 graduates, young women of all race/ethnicity groups immediately enrolled in four-year colleges at a rate higher than young men within the same race/ethnicity category.
  • Only 36.3% of Latino young men immediately enrolled in a four-year college, vs. the districtwide enrollment rate of 47.5%. However, Latino young men and Latina young women enrolled in two-year colleges at the highest rates among all groups (20.7% and 21.0% respectively, vs. a districtwide average of 15.7%).

To learn more about how we disaggregate by race/ethnicity and gender, see the Appendices. To track immediate college enrollment rates disaggregated by race/ethnicity and gender over time, see the To&Through Milestones Tool.8

English Learner Status–disaggregated Immediate College Enrollment data

Figure 9 Immediate college enrollment rates by English Learner (EL) status
Bar chart comparing data 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100% Percentage of spring 2023 high school graduates All students 22,601 students 47.5% 15.7% 63.3% Active English Learners 2,734 students 32.2% 24.2% 56.3% Former English Learners 5,915 students 51.0% 19.2% 70.2% Never English Learners 13,998 students 49.6% 12.9% 62.6% Immediate enrollment in a 4-year college Immediate enrollment in a 2-year college
These are immediate college enrollment rates for all CPS high school graduates, including those who graduated high school in five or six years. The “Former English Learners” category includes students who took the ACCESS test at any point after their entry into CPS and then later demonstrated English proficiency (scoring above the cut score) on the ACCESS test, and thus were no longer classified as active English Learners at any point during high school. The “Active English Learners” category includes students who were active English Learners at some point during high school. We define students who were never classified as English Learners as students who were never eligible to receive EL services, either because their native language was English or because they took the English proficiency screening test when they began school in CPS and scored high enough to be considered proficient in English. The three EL status categories do not sum to the total N for all students because some students are missing an EL status due to data anomalies. Students can exit out of EL status as early as the first year during which they were classified as English Learners, including if that year is kindergarten. CPS kindergarteners who were designated as English Learners and exited out of EL status at the end of kindergarten are included in former English Learners. Many students who began as English Learners exited out of EL status by the third grade. Furthermore, most students who began as English Learners exited out of EL status by the time they reached high school. About one in five students who began as English Learners remained classified as English Learners upon high school enrollment (de la Torre et al, 2019).
Key Points — Immediate College Enrollment Rate by English Learner Status
  • Among 2023 high school graduates, students who were formerly classified as English Learners enrolled in college at a higher rate (70.2%) than students who were never classified as English Learners (62.6%).
    • Students who were formerly classified as English Learners enrolled in a four-year college at a similar rate (51.0%) as students who were never classified as English Learners (49.6%), but enrolled in two-year college at a much higher rate (19.2%, compared to 12.9%).
  • Students who were still classified as English Learners while in high school enrolled in a four-year college at a much lower rate (32.2%) than their peers, but had the highest two-year college enrollment rate (24.2%).

To learn more about how and why we disaggregate data by EL status, see the Figure 9 note and the Appendices.

Disability Status–disaggregated Immediate College Enrollment data

Figure 10 Immediate college enrollment rates by disability category
Bar chart comparing data 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100% Percentage of spring 2023 high school graduates All students 22,601 students 47.5% 15.7% 63.3% Students with an IEP related to a learning disability 2,100 students 30.4% 17.9% 48.3% Students with an IEP related to another disability 1,047 students 23.4% 15.6% 39.0% Students without an IEP 19,454 students 50.7% 15.5% 66.2% Immediate enrollment in a 4-year college Immediate enrollment in a 2-year college
These are immediate college enrollment rates for all CPS high school graduates, including those who graduated high school in five or six years. Please see the Appendices for details about the disability categories used in this table.
Key Points — Immediate College Enrollment Rates by Disability Status
  • The immediate enrollment rate into two-year colleges was higher for students receiving services related to a learning disability (17.9%) than for students with no identified disabilities (15.5%).
  • However, students with no identified disabilities immediately enrolled into four-year colleges at a higher rate (50.7%) than students receiving services related to a learning disability (30.4%) and over twice the rate of students receiving services related to another disability (23.4%).
  • The immediate enrollment rate into four-year colleges differed by 7 percentage points between students receiving services related to a learning disability (30.4%) and students receiving services related to another disability (23.4%). Students with learning disabilities also enrolled in two-year colleges at a slightly higher rate than students with other disabilities.

To learn how we disaggregate by disability status, see the Appendices.

Photo by Rattanakun Thongbun for Getty Images

College Completion Rate — CPS

Among the CPS graduating class of 2017,
54% of students who immediately enrolled in a four-year college and 31% of students who immediately enrolled in a two-year college completed a bachelor’s degree, associate degree, or certificate within six years.

Figures 11 and 12 show the percentage of students who immediately enrolled in a four-year college or a two-year college, respectively, who completed a degree or certificate. Figure 13 shows the percentage of delayed and non-enrollees9 who completed a degree or certificate. Figure 14 shows the total number of students who immediately enrolled in college and their completion outcomes. We include completion rates through 2017 high school graduates because this is the most recent cohort for which we have six years of available college data. For detailed information on how this metric is calculated, see the Appendices.

Figure 11 Six-year college completion rates among immediate four-year enrollees over time CPS graduating classes of 2010–17
Time plot of data trends 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100% Percent of immediate 4-year enrollees 2010 7,086 students 2011 7,749 students 2012 8,046 students 2013 8,585 students 2014 8,885 students 2015 9,166 students 2016 9,636 students 2017 9,987 students High school graduation year (spring) 47.7% 48.1% 48.1% 50.6% 51.4% 51.1% 50.4% 50.0% 5.6% 5.5% 5.5% 5.5% 5.1% 4.7% 4.5% 4.4% 53.2% 53.6% 53.6% 56.1% 56.5% 55.8% 54.9% 54.4% Bachelor’s degree Associate degree or certificate only
These are college completion rates for CPS high school graduates who graduated high school within six years. Students are counted as having completed college if they completed a credential within six years of graduating from high school. For example, our 2015 rate includes all 2015 CPS graduates who completed a degree or credential by spring of 2021. The bachelor’s degree category includes students who completed an associate degree or certificate in addition to their bachelor’s degree. About 2.4% of 2016 CPS graduates who immediately enrolled in a four-year college completed both a bachelor’s degree and an associate degree/certificate. Due to rounding, individual rates may not sum exactly to the total rate displayed.

Key Points (Four-Year Enrollees) — 2023 CPS Six-Year College Completion Rate Among Immediate Four-Year Enrollees

  • The proportion of high school graduates who immediately enrolled in a four-year college who completed a bachelor’s degree has increased by about 2 percentage points since 2010, while the proportion who completed an associate degree or certificate has decreased by about one percentage point.
  • One-half of 2017 CPS graduates (50.0%) who immediately enrolled in a four-year college completed a bachelor’s degree within six years.
Figure 12 Six-year college completion rates among immediate two-year enrollees over time CPS graduating classes of 2010–17
Time plot of data trends 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100% Percent of immediate 2-year enrollees 2010 3,940 students 2011 4,150 students 2012 4,485 students 2013 4,680 students 2014 4,511 students 2015 4,056 students 2016 4,108 students 2017 4,820 students High school graduation year (spring) 7.1% 7.0% 6.8% 6.5% 7.6% 9.9% 8.9% 8.1% 18.5% 19.3% 19.4% 21.5% 19.4% 22.6% 23.2% 23.0% 25.6% 26.3% 26.2% 28.0% 26.9% 32.5% 32.0% 31.1% Bachelor’s degree Associate degree or certificate only
These are college completion rates for CPS high school graduates who graduated high school within six years. Students are counted as having completed college if they completed a credential within six years of graduating from high school. For example, our 2015 rate includes all 2015 CPS graduates who completed a degree or credential by spring of 2021. Although calculating a six-year completion rate for two-year programs is not standard, we do so here to maintain consistency with our other completion metrics. The bachelor’s degree category includes students who completed an associate degree or certificate in addition to their bachelor’s degree. About 6.7% of 2016 CPS graduates who immediately enrolled in a two-year college completed both a bachelor’s degree and an associate degree/certificate. Due to rounding, individual rates may not sum exactly to the total rate displayed.

Key Points (Two-Year Enrollees) — 2023 CPS Six-Year College Completion Rate Among Immediate Two-Year Enrollees

  • Among immediate two-year college enrollees, 8.1% of 2017 graduates completed a bachelor’s degree within six years (by 2023), and an additional 23.0% completed an associate degree or certificate.
  • Among 2017 high school graduates who immediately enrolled in a two-year college, completion rates decreased slightly from the previous year to 31.1%, but remain over 5 percentage points higher than they were for 2010 high school graduates.
    • It's important to note that the high school graduating class of 2015 was the first class eligible for the STAR Scholarship to City Colleges of Chicago.
  • More than two thirds (68.9%) of immediate two-year college enrollees had not completed any credential by the end of six years.
Figure 13 Six-year college completion rates among delayed and non-enrollees over time CPS graduating classes of 2010–17
Time plot of data trends 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100% Percent of immediate non-enrollees 2010 9,192 students 2011 8,514 students 2012 9,480 students 2013 9,348 students 2014 9,431 students 2015 9,663 students 2016 9,267 students 2017 8,217 students High school graduation year (spring) 3.3% 2.5% 2.2% 2.2% 2.4% 2.8% 2.7% 1.8% 5.8% 5.3% 5.1% 4.6% 4.5% 4.9% 4.6% 2.5% 9.1% 7.8% 7.2% 6.9% 6.9% 7.8% 7.3% 4.3% Bachelor’s degree Associate degree or certificate only
These are college completion rates for CPS high school graduates who graduated high school within six years. Students are counted as having completed college if they completed a credential within six years of graduating from high school. For example, our 2015 rate includes all 2015 CPS graduates who completed a degree or credential by spring of 2021. We define delayed enrollees as graduates who delayed entry into college—including those who enrolled in the spring after their high school graduation—and non-enrollees as graduates who did not enroll in college within six years of high school graduation. The bachelor’s degree category includes students who completed an associate degree or certificate in addition to their bachelor’s degree. About 0.08% of 2016 CPS graduates who were delayed or non-enrollees completed both a bachelor’s degree and an associate degree/certificate. Due to rounding, individual rates may not sum exactly to the total rate displayed.

Key Points (Delayed/Non-Enrollees) — 2023 CPS Six-Year College Completion Rate Among Delayed/Non-Enrollees

  • Among CPS graduates who did not immediately enroll in college, only 1.8% completed a bachelor’s degree within six years. An additional 2.5% of students who did not immediately enroll completed an associate degree or certificate.
  • Six-year completion rates among students who did not immediately enroll in college have been declining since 2010, and declined further for 2017 CPS graduates to just 4.3%.

Figure 14 shows the total number of college enrollees and their completion outcomes for all high school graduates10 who immediately enrolled in either a two-year or four-year institution. To view this graph for students from different race/ethnicity groups, use the dropdown menu under the figure title.

Figure 14 Number of immediate college enrollees and degree completion types
Yearly bar plots of college enrollment and outcomes Immediate college enrollees and degree completion types, by high school graduation year, 2008–23 No Degree Completion Completed Associate Degree or Certificate Completed Bachelor’s Degree 2008 9,670 immediate enrollees 3,370 947 5,353 2009 10,236 3,405 1,037 5,794 2010 11,026 3,657 1,124 6,245 2011 11,899 4,014 1,229 6,656 2012 12,531 4,179 1,308 7,044 2013 13,265 4,644 1,480 7,141 2014 13,396 4,905 1,327 7,164 2015 13,222 5,083 1,351 6,788 2016 13,744 5,224 1,381 7,139 2017 14,807 5,386 1,544 7,877 2018 14,799 14,799 2019 14,490 14,490 2020 13,274 13,274 2021 13,396 13,396 2022 14,331 14,331 2023 14,296 14,296 High school graduation year (spring) Yearly bar plots of college enrollment and outcomes Immediate college enrollees and degree completion types, by high school graduation year, 2008–23 No Degree Completion Completed Associate Degree or Certificate Completed Bachelor’s Degree 2008 725 immediate enrollees 437 60 228 2009 723 435 45 243 2010 707 445 58 204 2011 765 448 56 261 2012 740 487 58 195 2013 813 540 73 200 2014 801 512 90 199 2015 855 582 71 202 2016 790 515 70 205 2017 840 557 86 197 2018 851 851 2019 834 834 2020 817 817 2021 866 866 2022 916 916 2023 879 879 High school graduation year (spring) Yearly bar plots of college enrollment and outcomes Immediate college enrollees and degree completion types, by high school graduation year, 2008–23 No Degree Completion Completed Associate Degree or Certificate Completed Bachelor’s Degree 2008 4,913 immediate enrollees 1,372 402 3,139 2009 4,996 1,278 405 3,313 2010 5,426 1,340 472 3,614 2011 5,501 1,409 433 3,659 2012 5,792 1,410 464 3,918 2013 5,559 1,492 435 3,632 2014 5,445 1,500 372 3,573 2015 5,024 1,435 356 3,233 2016 5,299 1,532 358 3,409 2017 5,302 1,405 360 3,537 2018 5,154 5,154 2019 4,819 4,819 2020 4,170 4,170 2021 4,000 4,000 2022 4,169 4,169 2023 4,149 4,149 High school graduation year (spring) Yearly bar plots of college enrollment and outcomes Immediate college enrollees and degree completion types, by high school graduation year, 2008–23 No Degree Completion Completed Associate Degree or Certificate Completed Bachelor’s Degree 2008 2,702 immediate enrollees 836 359 1,507 2009 3,166 944 469 1,753 2010 3,480 1,085 461 1,934 2011 4,101 1,300 606 2,195 2012 4,534 1,449 672 2,413 2013 5,227 1,696 804 2,727 2014 5,481 1,890 733 2,858 2015 5,554 1,942 781 2,831 2016 6,011 2,138 831 3,042 2017 6,840 2,285 954 3,601 2018 6,933 6,933 2019 7,004 7,004 2020 6,418 6,418 2021 6,586 6,586 2022 7,190 7,190 2023 7,105 7,105 High school graduation year (spring) Yearly bar plots of college enrollment and outcomes Immediate college enrollees and degree completion types, by high school graduation year, 2008–23 No Degree Completion Completed Associate Degree or Certificate Completed Bachelor’s Degree 2008 1,311 immediate enrollees 717 124 470 2009 1,330 741 115 474 2010 1,391 776 131 484 2011 1,322 765 113 444 2012 1,227 733 100 394 2013 1,370 798 141 431 2014 1,441 888 115 438 2015 1,551 1,000 124 427 2016 1,430 928 109 393 2017 1,584 1,013 132 439 2018 1,620 1,620 2019 1,582 1,582 2020 1,616 1,616 2021 1,690 1,690 2022 1,772 1,772 2023 1,931 1,931 High school graduation year (spring)
In this figure, degree completion is defined as the completion of a bachelor’s degree, associate degree, or certificate within six years of graduating high school. The six bars on the right are not divided into completion outcomes because data on six-year degree completion outcomes is not yet available for those cohorts of graduates. As an example of how to read this figure, the 2008 bar can be understood as follows: among high school graduates in 2008, 9,670 students immediately enrolled in college. Of those 9,670 immediate enrollees, 3,370 had completed a bachelor’s degree by the end of six years after high school graduation (by spring 2014), 947 had completed an associate degree or certificate, and 5,353 had not completed a college credential.

Key Points — Number of CPS Immediate College Enrollees and Degree Completion Types

  • 2,016 more graduates from the CPS class of 2017 completed a bachelor’s degree than graduates from the CPS class of 2008, and additional 597 graduates earned associate degrees or certificates.
  • Because many more CPS students are enrolling in college, and college completion rates remain at around 50% among those who enroll, there are 2,524 more graduates from the CPS class of 2017 enrolled in college but left college without having earned a degree as compared to the CPS class of 2008.
  • Since 2017, the number of immediate college enrollees from CPS has decreased slightly, falling by over 1,000 students during the COVID-19 pandemic and remaining over 500 students below the peak of college enrollment from CPS in 2017. This decline is due to both a decline in enrollment rates, as well as smaller ninth grade class sizes.

Disaggregated Data — College Completion

Race/Ethnicity and Gender–disaggregated College Completion data

Figure 15 College completion rates by race/ethnicity and gender CPS graduating class of 2017 immediate college enrollees
Bar chart comparing data 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100% Percentage of 2017 immediate college enrollees All students 14,807 students 36.4% 10.4% 46.8% Asian/Pacific Islander young women 436 students 69.7% 10.8% 80.5% Asian/Pacific Islander young men 404 students 62.6% 9.7% 72.3% Black young women 3,069 students 31.3% 7.7% 39.0% Black young men 2,233 students 19.8% 5.6% 25.4% Latina young women 3,843 students 38.7% 15.4% 54.1% Latino young men 2,997 students 26.6% 12.1% 38.7% White young women 855 students 70.2% 6.9% 77.1% White young men 729 students 56.7% 10.0% 66.7% Bachelor’s degree Associate degree or certificate only
Data for Multiracial, Native American/Alaskan Native, and students who didn't report their race/ethnicity in CPS records are not included because we suppressed rates for groups of fewer than 100 students to avoid reporting fluctuations in rates that do not reflect consistent trends in student outcomes. These are college completion rates for CPS high school graduates who graduated high school within six years. Students are counted as having completed college if they completed a credential within six years of graduating from high school. Historically, data has been collected in a way that groups students into one of two categories: male and female. Starting in 2020–21, the gender categories in the CPS demographic questionnaire were: male, female, and non-binary; however, we are not currently reporting data on non-binary students due to small group sizes. Due to rounding, individual rates may not sum exactly to the total rate displayed.
Key Points — College Completion Rates by Race/Ethnicity and Gender
  • Among Black and Latino young men in the CPS graduating class of 2017, fewer than one-third of students who immediately enrolled in college completed a bachelor’s degree within six years.
  • Latina young women, Asian/Pacific Islander students, and White students completed a college degree or certificate at a rate higher than the CPS average in 2023.
  • Young men were less likely to complete a college degree or certificate than young women of the same race/ethnicity.
  • Latina young women were the most likely to complete an associate degree or certificate only.

To learn more about how we disaggregate by race/ethnicity and gender, see the Appendices. To track college completion rates disaggregated by race/ethnicity and gender over time, see the To&Through Milestones Tool.11 12

We are unable to provide a disaggregation of college completion rates for students who are English Learners or students with disabilities, due to the small numbers of students in each category.

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Cite as: Mahaffie, S., Usher, A., Nagaoka, J., & McKoy, D. (2024). The educational attainment of Chicago Public Schools students: 2023. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Consortium on School Research.

References

See works cited

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  • Chicago Beyond Equity Series. (2019). Why am I always being researched? [Guidebook]. Retrieved from https://chicagobeyond.org/researchequity/

  • Drake, S., & Clayton, H.R. (1945). Black metropolis: A study of Negro life in a northern city. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.

  • Ewing, E.L. (2018). Ghosts in the schoolyard: Racism and school closings on Chicago’s south side. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.

  • Henricks, K., Lewis, A.E., Arenas, I., & Lewis, D.G. (2017). A tale of three cities: The state of racial justice in Chicago report. Charlottesville, VA: Center for Open Science.

  • Moore, N. (2016). The South Side: A portrait of Chicago and American segregation. New York, NY: Picador Paper.

  • Nagaoka, J., & Mahaffie, S. (2020). Tracking two-year college outcomes: Comparing National Student Clearinghouse and Illinois Community College Board as sources of two-year college data. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Consortium on School Research.

  • Payne, C.M. (2008). So much reform, so little change: The persistence of failure in urban schools. Cambridge, MA: Harvard Education Press.

  • Rothstein, R. (2017). The color of law: A forgotten history of how our government segregated America. New York, NY: Liverlight Publishing Company.

  • Sampson, R.J. (2011). Great American city: Chicago and the enduring neighborhood effect. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.

  • Todd-Breland, E. (2018). A political education: Black politics and education reform in Chicago since the 1960s. Chapel Hill, NC: The University of North Carolina Press.

  • de la Torre, M., Blanchard, A., Allensworth, E.M., & Freire, S. (2019). English Learners in CPS: A new perspective. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Consortium on School Research.

  • Usher, A., Mahaffie, S., & Nagaoka, J. (2023). The educational attainment of Chicago Public Schools students: 2022. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Consortium on School Research.

  • Wilson, W.J. (1987). The truly disadvantaged. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.

Previous Reports

Read previous reports on the educational attainment of Chicago Public Schools students:

2023

Usher, A., Mahaffie, S., & Nagaoka, J. (2023). The educational attainment of Chicago Public Schools students: 2022. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Consortium on School Research.

2022

Mahaffie, S., Usher, A., Mukerjee, D., & Nagaoka, J. (2022). The educational attainment of Chicago Public Schools students: 2021. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Consortium on School Research.

2021

Malone, M., Mahaffie, S., Hernandez, G., Usher, A., & Nagaoka, J. (2021). The educational attainment of Chicago Public Schools students: 2020. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Consortium on School Research.

2020

Nagaoka, J., Mahaffie, S., Usher, A., & Seeskin, A. (2020). The educational attainment of Chicago Public Schools students: 2019. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Consortium on School Research.

2019

Nagaoka, J., & Seeskin, A. (2019). The educational attainment of Chicago Public Schools students: 2018. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Consortium on School Research.

2018

Nagaoka, J., & Seeskin, A. (2018). The educational attainment of Chicago Public Schools students: 2017. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Consortium on School Research.

2017

Nagaoka, J., Seeskin, A., & Coca, V.M. (2017). The educational attainment of Chicago Public Schools students: 2016. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Consortium on School Research.

2016

Nagaoka, J., & Healey, K. (2016). The educational attainment of Chicago Public Schools students: 2015: A focus on four-year college degrees. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Consortium on School Research.

2014

Healey, K., Nagaoka, J., & Michelman, V. (2014). The educational attainment of Chicago Public Schools students: A focus on four-year college degrees. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Consortium on School Research.

Access the Online Appendix

The Online Appendix provides details on data definitions and decision rules as well as additional data on Chicago Public Schools graduates’ attainment rates.

See the Online Appendix

About

The University of Chicago Consortium on School Research (UChicago Consortium)

The UChicago Consortium conducts research of high technical quality that can inform and assess policy and practice in the Chicago Public Schools. We seek to expand communication among researchers, policymakers, and practitioners as we support the search for solutions to the problems of school reform. The UChicago Consortium encourages the use of research in policy action and improvement of practice, but does not argue for particular policies or programs. Rather, we help to build capacity for school reform by identifying what matters for student success and school improvement, creating critical indicators to chart progress, and conducting theory-driven evaluation to identify how programs and policies are working.

The To&Through Project

In collaboration with educators, policymakers, and communities, the To&Through Project aims to significantly increase high school and post-secondary completion for under-resourced students of color in Chicago and around the country by providing education stakeholders with research-based data on students’ educational experiences and facilitating dialogue on its implications for adult practice. At the To&Through Project, we:

The To&Through Project is located at the University of Chicago Urban Education Institute in the Crown Family School of Social Work, Policy, and Practice.

This report reflects the interpretation of the authors. Although the UChicago Consortium’s Steering Committee provided technical advice, no formal endorsement by these individuals, organizations, the full Consortium, or the To&Through Project, should be assumed.