December 2025

The Educational Attainment of Chicago Public Schools Students: 2024

Appendices To&Through Milestones Tool Data Definitions

Photo by Allison Shelley/Complete College Photo Library

If current rates hold, 30% 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 in high school and college. It is intended to serve as both an update on current educational attainment rates, and as a starting place for understanding why these patterns exist and what can be done to improve students’ journeys towards their degrees.

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). The PAI is a projection that represents the proportion of current CPS ninth-graders who would be expected to complete a college degree or certificate within 10 years, if current high school and college attainment rates were to hold constant over the next decade.

Actions for readers

Context for this year’s report

Fully supporting CPS students throughout their high school and post-secondary journeys requires sustained, significant investment and evolving partnerships across the city. Doing this work well depends on understanding the lived experiences of CPS students and graduates to inform investments, partnerships, and changes to practice. For a rich database of students and families describing their experiences in their own words, explore the To&Through Project Student Stories & Family Stories.

Post-secondary Attainment Index

Figure 1 2024 Post-secondary Attainment Index

Of 100 2024–25 ninth-graders, 30 would earn a college credential by the time they're about 25 years old, if current rates stayed the same

Bar chart of attainment milestones Number of Students 100 ninth-graders Ninth-graders 84 graduates Graduate from high school 43 4-year college enrollees 15 2-year college enrollees 58 total enrollees Immediately enroll in college 24 bachelor’s degree completers 6 associate degree/ certificate completers 30 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 rates of high school graduation, college enrollment, and college completion were to hold constant over the next decade. To find the attainment rates2 used to calculate the PAI, see Appendix A, Table A.1.

The PAI shows the combined influence of current high school graduation, college enrollment, and college graduation patterns on eventual degree completion. Note that the PAI is not intended to be a prediction of what will happen. Continued investments in supporting CPS students in their post-secondary journeys hopefully will result in improved rates of high school and college completion. 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 — 2024 PAI

  • If 2024 rates held over the next decade, of 100 current CPS ninth-graders, 84 would graduate from high school within four years.
  • Of those 84 high school graduates, 43 would immediately enroll in a four-year college, 15 would immediately enroll in a two-year college, and 26 would not immediately enroll in college.
  • Six years after high-school graduation, a total of 30 of the original 84 high school graduates would have completed a college credential—24 with a bachelor's degree and 6 with an associate degree or certificate.3
  • The 2024 PAI of 30.0%, which we report rounding to whole numbers as 30%, shows a 1.8 percentage point decrease over the 2023 PAI of 31.8%.4

2024 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 and the communities students live in. 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 5, 9, and 15, 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, EL 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 2024 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 23.8% 6.1% 30.0% Asian/Pacific Islander young women 68.9% 5.5% 74.5% Asian/Pacific Islander young men 54.2% 5.4% 59.5% Black young women 20.3% 4.5% 24.8% Black young men 9.7% 3.0% 12.7% Latina young women 28.8% 9.6% 38.4% Latino young men 15.9% 6.4% 22.3% White young women 63.7% 4.6% 68.4% White young men 47.0% 6.0% 53.0% 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 — 2024 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 two (Asian/Pacific Islander young women and white 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.

PAI Versus Actual Attainment Over Time

Because the PAI combines data from multiple cohorts, it is best understood as a measure of progress over time, rather than as a point-in-time estimate for a particular cohort. Figure 3 shows the PAI over time, for the years in which enough time has elapsed to also calculate the actual attainment rate for that cohort.

The PAI and the actual attainment level are different because the component rates changed between the time the PAI was calculated in students’ ninth grade year and the outcome year (10 years after starting ninth grade). We recommend focusing more on overall trends in the PAI over time, rather than on specific year-to-year fluctuations, as the PAI is intended to serve as a starting place for thinking about why patterns of educational attainment exist and what can be done to improve these patterns.

Figure 3 Attainment rates over time
Time plot of data trends 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100% Percent completing degree or certificate 2012 2013 2014 Ninth-grade cohort year (fall) 27.3% 28.3% 28.6% 21.0% 23.2% 24.6% Post-secondary Attainment Index Actual attainment
To calculate these historical rates, we applied the method that we used to calculate the PAI retroactively to all years of data, rather than using indices that were calculated in the past. For example, the PAI was calculated using the high school graduation rate, the college enrollment rates, and the college completion rates for high school graduates, so the 2012 PAI would be calculated using the 2012 high school graduation rate, the 2012 college enrollment rates, and the rates of completion for 2006 high school graduates. For rates of high school graduation, immediate college enrollment, and college completion used to calculate the PAI over time, as well as what the PAI was for 2015–2024, see Table A.1.

Key Points — PAI Over Time

  • In each year thus far, the actual attainment level was higher than the PAI because one or more component rates (high school graduation, college enrollment, or college completion) had improved between the time the PAI was calculated and the outcome year.
  • For the years where data is available (2012–2014), the improvement in rates between the time the PAI was calculated and the outome year resulted in 4,067 additional students completing a degree, beyond what was initially predicted (18,206 students initially predicted to complete a degree, vs. 22,273 students actually completed a degree).

National Context

Table 1 provides national rates on key milestones as a point of comparison and context for Chicago’s story, and to interrupt narratives that are both incorrect and harmful about CPS students’ outcomes. While exact comparisons are not always possible due to data and methodology limitations, we have provided the most relevant and recent numbers possible.

Table 1 National comparison rates
National Rate 2024 CPS Rate
High School Graduation 2023

87%

Black students: 81%

Latinx students: 87%

84%

Black students: 81%

Latinx students: 84%

Immediate Enrollment into College 2023

61%

Black students: 60%

Latinx students: 52%

66%

Black students: 57%

Latinx students: 66%

College Degree or Credential Completion Within Six Years 2024

64%

Black students: 45%

Latinx students: 52%

48%

Black students: 35%

Latinx students: 47%

Rates specific to Black and Latinx students are included here as those populations make up 81% of the CPS student body. National high school graduation rate is from IPEDS and represents the graduating class of 2023. National college enrollment rate is from the Bureau of Labor Statistics and represents the enrolling class of 2023. National college completion rate is from the NSC and represents the rate of college completion within six years for 2018 first-time enrollees in any institution, aged 20 and younger.

Key Points — National Context

  • CPS is outpacing the national rate for immediate enrollment into college, particularly for Latinx students, but is behind the national rates for high school graduation and college completion.
  • When disaggregating rates for Black and Latinx students (who make up 81% of the CPS student body), CPS rates are closer to the national rates.
  • The largest disparities in rates for Black and Latinx students compared to the average rate are in college completion, both nationally and for CPS graduates.

CPS Rates on Educational Milestones Reported by the UChicago To&Through Project

The To&Through Project also reports these rates—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 2020–21 first-time ninth-graders,
84% graduated from high school by spring 2024.

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

Figure 4 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 2024 25,041 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% 83.7%
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 2024 high school graduation year rate, for example, represents students who began high school in the fall of 2020. 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 — 2024 CPS High School Graduation Rate

  • The high school graduation rate has increased over the past decade, from 78.0% in 2014 to 83.7% in 2024.
  • The high school graduation rate dipped slightly in the past year, but remains 1.7 percentage points above its post-COVID low of 82.0% in 2021, and 1.5 percentage points above its pre-COVID high of 82.2% in 2019.

Foundational Work: The Middle Grades and 9th Grade On-Track

Although the PAI uses high school graduation as its starting place for understanding academic outcomes, developing the skills that students need to graduate from high school and succeed in post-secondary life begins much earlier. Strong foundations matter—and those foundations are laid throughout the elementary and middle grades. Our research has shown that students who have strong grades and attendance in elementary school are better set up for success in high school and beyond.E

Two key research-backed indicators help to guide educators’ and advisors’ support of CPS students through these critical middle grades and high school transition points:

  • Elementary OnTrack, defined for 3rd–8th-grade students as having an attendance rate at or above 90% and a GPA at or above 3.0.
  • 9th Grade On-Track, defined for ninth-grade students as ending the school year having earned at least 6.5 total credits, meaning at most 1 semester course failure.F

The measurement and tracking of these on-track indicators provides educators with actionable data in real time to respond to the unique needs and circumstances of students across CPS. Students who were in the On-Track category by the end of elementary school graduated high school at over twice the rate of students in the Intensive Support category (below 90% attendance and below a 3.0 GPA). And 9th Grade On-Track is more predictive of a student’s odds of graduating from high school than all other factors combined; students who are on-track in their ninth grade year graduate high school at a rate of 87%, while students who are off track graduate at a rate of 30%. Leaders also use this data to identify needed shifts in policies and practices, remaining responsive to student and community needs. To learn more about this data and to explore these indicators for the communities that you support, visit the To&Through Milestone Tool’s Elementary Lens to explore Elementary OnTrack data and the High School Lens to explore 9th Grade On-Track data.

At To&Through, we facilitate this work through our Middle Grades Network (MGN) and as a partner to the district as they support practitioners to strategically use this data. The To&Through MGN partners with cohorts of CPS elementary schools to increase the number of students with attendance at or above 90% and GPAs at or above 3.0 through a meaningful increase in students’ sense of belonging. Through a multi-year partnership, these schools use multiple forms of data to better understand students’ daily experiences and create learning environments that foster the academic and social-emotional skills necessary for their long-term success. The MGN also serves as a thought partner to the district, sharing learnings and expertise, assisting in the development of a middle grades strategy for networks, and offering resources and professional learning to help schools analyze and use learning conditions data to improve student experiences. For more information on the MGN, visit the To&Through MGN website.

Finally, there is a long and important history of 9th Grade On-Track work in CPS. Efforts by the district have combined with research and coaching from organizations including To&Through and our partner organizations such as UChicago Consortium and the Network for College Success. Decades of work by practitioners to build systems and structures, change adult mindsets, and improve student achievement have led to historically high rates of students’ academic success in the ninth grade. This has been fundamental to the increases in high school graduation and college success shown in the figures in this report. For more information about the history of 9th Grade On-Track work in CPS, see the Overview of OnTrack in CPS.

Disaggregated Data — High School Graduation

Race/Ethnicity and Gender–disaggregated High School Graduation data

Figure 5 Four-year high school graduation rates by race/ethnicity and gender 2020–21 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 2024 All students 25,041 students 83.7% Asian/Pacific Islander young women 489 students 94.3% Asian/Pacific Islander young men 555 students 93.5% Black young women 4,456 students 84.9% Black young men 4,169 students 77.3% Latina young women 6,118 students 86.6% Latino young men 6,150 students 80.9% White young women 1,178 students 92.7% White young men 1,197 students 90.3%
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 (110 students) from the last three graduating classes graduated from high school at a rate of 91.8%, while Native American/Alaskan Native young men from the last three graduating classes (100 students) graduated from high school at a rate of 71.0%. 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 (77.3%) and Latino young men (80.9%) were below the district average (83.7%).

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

EL Status–disaggregated High School Graduation data

Figure 6 Four-year high school graduation rates by EL status 2020–21 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 2024 All students 25,041 students 83.7% Active English Learners 2,689 students 80.8% Former English Learners 5,769 students 88.2% Never English Learners 15,860 students 82.9%
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, Blanchard, Frankly, Angeles, & Allensworth, 2024).
Key Points — High School Graduation Rate by English Learner Status
  • Among 2020–21 ninth-graders, students formerly classified as English Learners as of ninth grade graduated from high school at a higher rate (88.2%) than students who had never been classified as English Learners (82.9%).
  • Students who were still classified as English Learners as of ninth grade graduated from high school at a slightly lower rate (80.8%) than students who had never been classified as English Learners (82.9%).

To learn more about how and why we disaggregate data by EL status, see the Figure 6 note and the Appendices.

Disability Status–disaggregated High School Graduation data

Figure 7 Four-year CPS high school graduation rates by disability category 2020–21 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 2024 All students 25,041 students 83.7% Students with an IEP related to a learning disability 2,447 students 80.2% Students with an IEP related to another disability 1,528 students 54.6% Students without an IEP 21,066 students 86.2%
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 2020–21 first-time ninth-graders, students with IEPs graduated from high school within four years at lower rates than the four-year district average of 83.7%.

    • The four-year graduation rate for the 2,447 2020–21 CPS ninth-graders receiving services related to a learning disability was 80.2%.
    • The four-year graduation rate for the 1,528 2020–21 CPS ninth-graders receiving services related to another disability was 54.6%.

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 2024,
66% 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 8 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 2011 20,413 students 2012 22,010 students 2013 22,613 students 2014 22,827 students 2015 22,885 students 2016 23,011 students 2017* 23,024 students 2018 23,464 students 2019 23,223 students 2020 22,627 students 2021 22,581 students 2022 23,292 students 2023 22,675 students 2024 22,278 students High school graduation year (spring) 38.0% 36.6% 38.0% 38.9% 40.1% 41.9% 44.6% 44.0% 45.1% 44.6% 46.2% 47.5% 50.6% 48.6% 20.3% 20.4% 20.7% 19.8% 17.7% 17.9% 21.0% 21.3% 20.0% 16.6% 15.7% 16.6% 15.8% 17.3% 58.3% 56.9% 58.7% 58.7% 57.8% 59.7% 65.6% 65.4% 65.1% 61.2% 61.8% 64.1% 66.4% 65.8% Immediate 4-year enrollment Immediate 2-year enrollment * The graph shows a large increase in enrollment between 2016 and 2017. About half of this increase was due to implementing corrected NSC data starting in 2017, and the remainder was a true increase in enrollment.
These are immediate college enrollment rates for all CPS high school graduates, including those who graduated high school in five or six years. Due to rounding, individual rates may not sum exactly to the total rate displayed. College enrollment and completion data for the graduating classes of 2017–2024 was revised to correct for a methodological error announced by the National Student Clearinghouse (see NSC press release). This correction resulted in a small increase in immediate college enrollment numbers and means that the rates reported here do not match previous reports. For more information, see this brief summary of NSC Data Correction.

Key Points — 2024 CPS Immediate College Enrollment Rate

  • The four-year college enrollment rate has increased over time since 2011, while the two-year college enrollment rate has seen more fluctuations and decreased overall.
  • In 2024, the four-year college enrollment rate decreased 2 percentage points, while the two-year college enrollment rate increased 1.5 percentage points to 17.3%.
  • Overall college enrollment held mostly steady from the prior year, having surpassed its pre-COVID high.

Disaggregated Data — Immediate College Enrollment

Race/Ethnicity and Gender–disaggregated Immediate College Enrollment data

Figure 9 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 2024 high school graduates All students 22,278 students 48.6% 17.3% 65.8% Asian/Pacific Islander young women 479 students 81.4% 10.0% 91.4% Asian/Pacific Islander young men 548 students 71.2% 13.9% 85.0% Black young women 4,036 students 50.4% 13.3% 63.6% Black young men 3,573 students 38.1% 10.8% 48.8% Latina young women 5,525 students 51.9% 22.8% 74.6% Latino young men 5,394 students 36.1% 21.7% 57.8% White young women 1,128 students 73.7% 11.9% 85.5% White young men 1,146 students 62.7% 14.6% 77.3% 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 (67 students) enrolled in a four-year college at a rate of 49.3% and enrolled in a two-year college at a rate of 26.9%. Native American/Alaskan Native young men from the last three graduating classes (50 students) enrolled in a four-year college at a rate of 40.0% and enrolled in a two-year college at a rate of 22.0%. 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 2024 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 36.1% of Latino young men immediately enrolled in a four-year college vs. the districtwide enrollment rate of 48.6%. However, Latino young men and Latina young women enrolled in two-year colleges at the highest rates among all groups (21.7% and 22.8% respectively vs. a districtwide average of 17.3%).

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

EL Status–disaggregated Immediate College Enrollment data

Figure 10 Immediate college enrollment rates by EL status
Bar chart comparing data 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100% Percentage of spring 2024 high school graduates All students 22,278 students 48.6% 17.3% 65.8% Active English Learners 3,134 students 29.5% 24.9% 54.4% Former English Learners 5,358 students 53.3% 20.9% 74.3% Never English Learners 13,902 students 51.2% 14.2% 65.4% 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, Blanchard, Frankly, Angeles, & Allensworth, 2024).
Key Points — Immediate College Enrollment Rate by EL Status
  • Among 2024 high school graduates, students who were formerly classified as English Learners enrolled in college at a higher rate (74.3%) than students who were never classified as English Learners (65.4%).
    • Students who were formerly classified as English Learners enrolled in a four-year college at a similar rate (53.3%) as students who were never classified as English Learners (51.2%), but enrolled in two-year college at a much higher rate (20.9%, compared to 14.2%).
  • Students who were still classified as English Learners while in high school enrolled in a four-year college at a much lower rate (29.5%) than their peers, but had the highest two-year college enrollment rate (24.9%).

To learn more about how and why we disaggregate data by EL status, see the Figure 10 note and the Appendices.

Disability Status–disaggregated Immediate College Enrollment data

Figure 11 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 2024 high school graduates All students 22,278 students 48.6% 17.3% 65.8% Students with an IEP related to a learning disability 1,990 students 25.4% 20.3% 45.7% Students with an IEP related to another disability 1,080 students 20.8% 17.1% 38.0% Students without an IEP 19,207 students 52.5% 16.9% 69.5% 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 the highest for students receiving services related to a learning disability (20.3%).
  • However, students with no identified disabilities immediately enrolled into four-year colleges at a higher rate (52.5%) than students receiving services related to a learning disability (25.4%) or receiving services related to another disability (20.8%).
  • The immediate enrollment rate into four-year colleges differed by 4.6 percentage points between students receiving services related to a learning disability (25.4%) and students receiving services related to another disability (20.8%).

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 2018,
56% of students who immediately enrolled in a four-year college and 32% of students who immediately enrolled in a two-year college completed a bachelor’s degree, associate degree, or certificate within six years.

To keep the focus on the lived realities these data represent, Figure 12 shows the total number of students who immediately enrolled in college and their completion outcomes. Each bar represents a different high school graduating class; these class sizes have changed over time (see the numbers in the horizontal axis of Figure 4). To view this graph for students from different race/ethnicity groups, use the dropdown menu under the figure title.

The following two figures explore college completion rates according to where a student first enrolled in college. Figures 13 and 14 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. For the percentage of delayed and non-enrollees9 who completed a degree or certificate within six years, see Figure A.3 in the Appendices.

Figure 12 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, 2009–24 No Degree Completion Completed Associate Degree or Certificate Completed Bachelor’s Degree 2009 10,236 immediate enrollees 3,405 1,037 5,794 2010 11,026 3,657 1,124 6,245 2011 11,898 4,014 1,229 6,655 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 15,111 5,603 1,564 7,944 2018 15,340 5,800 1,568 7,972 2019 15,109 15,109 2020 13,858 13,858 2021 13,961 13,961 2022 14,923 14,923 2023 15,058 15,058 2024 14,661 14,661 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, 2009–24 No Degree Completion Completed Associate Degree or Certificate Completed Bachelor’s Degree 2009 723 immediate enrollees 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 883 595 87 201 2018 899 606 67 226 2019 889 889 2020 861 861 2021 938 938 2022 986 986 2023 973 973 2024 904 904 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, 2009–24 No Degree Completion Completed Associate Degree or Certificate Completed Bachelor’s Degree 2009 4,996 immediate enrollees 1,278 405 3,313 2010 5,426 1,340 472 3,614 2011 5,500 1,409 433 3,658 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 5,410 1,493 368 3,549 2018 5,358 1,505 375 3,478 2019 5,025 5,025 2020 4,364 4,364 2021 4,222 4,222 2022 4,372 4,372 2023 4,381 4,381 2024 4,319 4,319 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, 2009–24 No Degree Completion Completed Associate Degree or Certificate Completed Bachelor’s Degree 2009 3,166 immediate enrollees 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 6,959 2,350 964 3,645 2018 7,153 2,395 988 3,770 2019 7,282 7,282 2020 6,682 6,682 2021 6,804 6,804 2022 7,438 7,438 2023 7,439 7,439 2024 7,246 7,246 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, 2009–24 No Degree Completion Completed Associate Degree or Certificate Completed Bachelor’s Degree 2009 1,330 immediate enrollees 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 1,610 1,033 132 445 2018 1,686 1,151 115 420 2019 1,648 1,648 2020 1,691 1,691 2021 1,739 1,739 2022 1,836 1,836 2023 2,020 2,020 2024 1,864 1,864 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. Students who complete both an associate degree or certificate and a bachelor’s degree are included in the “Completed Bachelor’s Degree” group. 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 2009 bar can be understood as follows: among high school graduates in 2009, 10,236 students immediately enrolled in college. Of those 10,236 immediate enrollees, 3,405 had completed a bachelor’s degree by the end of six years after high school graduation (by spring 2015), 1,037 had completed an associate degree or certificate, and 5,794 had not completed a college credential.

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

  • 2,395 more graduates from the CPS class of 2018 completed a bachelor’s degree than graduates from the CPS class of 2009, and additional 531 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 2,178 more graduates from the CPS class of 2018 who enrolled in college but left college without having earned a degree, as compared to the CPS class of 2009.
  • Since its high in 2018, the number of immediate college enrollees from CPS has decreased slightly, falling by over 1,000 students during the COVID-19 pandemic and remaining almost 700 students below the peak of college enrollment from CPS in 2018. This decline is due to both a decline in enrollment rates, as well as smaller ninth-grade class sizes.
Figure 13 Six-year college completion rates among immediate four-year enrollees over time CPS graduating classes of 2009–18
Time plot of data trends 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100% Percent of immediate 4-year enrollees 2009 6,476 students 2010 7,086 students 2011 7,748 students 2012 8,046 students 2013 8,585 students 2014 8,885 students 2015 9,166 students 2016 9,636 students 2017 10,268 students 2018 10,333 students High school graduation year (spring) 47.5% 45.8% 46.6% 46.6% 48.9% 49.6% 48.8% 48.0% 48.4% 49.6% 1.3% 1.9% 1.5% 1.5% 1.7% 1.7% 2.3% 2.4% 2.2% 2.0% 4.9% 5.6% 5.5% 5.5% 5.5% 5.1% 4.7% 4.5% 4.5% 4.1% 53.7% 53.2% 53.6% 53.6% 56.1% 56.5% 55.8% 54.9% 55.1% 55.7% Bachelor’s degree Both bachelor’s and associate degree or certificate 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. Due to rounding, individual rates may not sum exactly to the total rate displayed.

Key Points (Four-Year Enrollees) — 2024 CPS Six-Year College Completion Rate Among Immediate Four-Year Enrollees

  • One-half of 2018 CPS graduates (51.6%) who immediately enrolled in a four-year college completed a bachelor’s degree within six years, an increase of about 3 percentage points since 2009.
  • The percentage of CPS graduates who immediately enrolled in a four-year college who completed any degree or certificate within six years increased 2 percentage points (from 53.7% to 55.7%) since 2009.
Figure 14 Six-year college completion rates among immediate two-year enrollees over time CPS graduating classes of 2009–18
Time plot of data trends 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100% Percent of immediate 2-year enrollees 2009 3,760 students 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 4,843 students 2018 5,007 students High school graduation year (spring) 3.3% 3.5% 3.3% 2.8% 2.4% 2.5% 1.7% 2.2% 1.8% 1.7% 3.3% 3.6% 3.7% 4.0% 4.1% 5.1% 8.2% 6.7% 6.6% 7.7% 19.1% 18.5% 19.3% 19.4% 21.5% 19.4% 22.6% 23.2% 22.8% 22.8% 25.7% 25.6% 26.3% 26.2% 28.0% 26.9% 32.5% 32.0% 31.2% 32.2% Bachelor’s degree Both bachelor’s and associate degree or certificate 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. Due to rounding, individual rates may not sum exactly to the total rate displayed.

Key Points (Two-Year Enrollees) — 2024 CPS Six-Year College Completion Rate Among Immediate Two-Year Enrollees

  • Among immediate two-year college enrollees, 9.4% of 2018 graduates completed a bachelor’s degree within six years (by 2024), and an additional 22.8% completed only an associate degree or certificate.
  • Among 2018 high school graduates who immediately enrolled in a two-year college, completion rates increased slightly from the previous year to 32.2%, and remain over 6 percentage points higher than they were for 2009 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 (67.8%) of immediate two-year college enrollees had not completed any credential by the end of six years.

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 2018 immediate college enrollees
Bar chart comparing data 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100% Percentage of 2018 immediate college enrollees All students 15,340 students 37.8% 10.2% 48.0% Asian/Pacific Islander young women 445 students 74.2% 7.4% 81.6% Asian/Pacific Islander young men 454 students 60.8% 7.5% 68.3% Black young women 3,239 students 32.6% 7.6% 40.1% Black young men 2,119 students 21.2% 6.1% 27.4% Latina young women 4,052 students 38.0% 15.1% 53.0% Latino young men 3,101 students 27.6% 12.2% 39.8% White young women 923 students 75.2% 6.1% 81.3% White young men 763 students 59.9% 7.7% 67.6% 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 2018, 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 2024.
  • 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.10

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. (2025). The educational attainment of Chicago Public Schools students: 2024. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Consortium on School Research.

References

See works cited
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  • 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.

  • Seeskin, A., Massion, T., and Usher, A. (2022). Elementary on-track: Elementary school students’ grades, attendance, and future outcomes. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Consortium on School Research.

  • 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.

  • de la Torre, M., Blanchard, A., Franklin, K., Angeles, C., & Allensworth, E.M. (2024). English Learners in Chicago Public Schools: A Spotlight on High School Students. 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:

2024

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

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 Chicago 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 Kersten Institute for Urban Education 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 UChicago Consortium, or the To&Through Project, should be assumed.