October 2026

The Educational Attainment of Chicago Public Schools Students: 2025

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

Photo by Chris Joyce on behalf of Braven

Since 2014, this annual analysis has examined Chicago Public Schools (CPS) students’ high school and college attainment at the district level. It serves as both an update on current rates, and an annual opportunity to reflect on progress and what more can be done to improve students’ pathways to degrees.

Our report focuses on three milestones for CPS students—high school graduation, college enrollment, and college completion. We then use these current rates to calculate the Post-secondary Attainment Index (PAI), which estimates the proportion of current CPS ninth-graders 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

  • Remember that the PAI is an estimate that does not have to come true; Chicago has historically worked to improve policy and practice and surpassed these projections. Consider where your work can contribute to this change.
  • Examine milestone trends over multiple years, rather than focusing on year-to-year changes.
  • Explore data for different groups of students—by race/ethnicity and gender, disability status, and English Learner (EL) status—to understand how unique student groups are situated and guide actions toward equity.
  • Understand Chicago’s outcomes in context alongside national rates.
  • Use the To&Through Milestones Tool to explore trends in your local schools or community.

Context for this year’s report

  • The college completers represented in this report (college class of 2025) transitioned to remote learning in their first year of college (school year 2019–20). Likewise, the high school graduating class of 2025 finished their eighth-grade year in remote learning during the COVID-19 pandemic.
  • The students in this report applied to and experienced college as the United States Department of Education increased pressure on higher education institutions to disengage from diversity- and equity-focused initiatives, resulting in a nationwide pull-back of explicit efforts to improve racial diversity.1
  • The students in this report lived through the federal government’s 2025 aggressive immigration enforcement, which led to drops in attendance and affected many students’ sense of belonging and security for themselves and their loved ones in schools, campuses, and their communities.2

Supporting CPS students through high school and beyond requires ongoing investment and strong partnerships across the city. Understanding the experiences of CPS students is crucial to inform 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. This year, we have integrated quotes from students throughout the report to provide a better understanding of how students are experiencing these milestones. Students’ quotes and images are used with their consent.

Post-secondary Attainment Index

Figure 1 2025 Post-secondary Attainment Index

Of 100 2025–26 ninth-graders, 31 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 44 4-year college enrollees 16 2-year college enrollees 60 total enrollees Immediately enroll in college 25 bachelor’s degree completers 6 — 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 8–15, 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 PAI 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. The PAI is not a true cohort attainment rate, in that it does not follow one single cohort of students for 10 consecutive years. Instead, to provide more timely information, it combines information from multiple recent cohorts to suggest what college outcomes might be, if the most recent available rates of attainment were to hold constant during the next decade.

The PAI shows the combined influence of current high school graduation, college enrollment, and college graduation patterns on eventual degree completion. (To find the specific attainment rates used to calculate the PAI, see Appendix A, Table A.1.) 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 — 2025 PAI

  • If 2025 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, 44 would immediately enroll in a four-year college, 16 would immediately enroll in a two-year college, and 24 would not immediately enroll in college.
  • Six years after high-school graduation, a total of 31 of the 100 original ninth-graders would have completed a college credential—25 with a bachelor's degree and six with an associate degree or certificate.3
  • The 2025 PAI of 31.0%, which we report rounding to whole numbers as 31%, shows a 0.9 percentage-point increase over the 2024 PAI of 30.1%.4

2025 PAI by Race/Ethnicity and Gender

Before examining the PAI for different student groups, it is critical to state that the PAI should be understood as the product of the cumulative effects of historical and present systemic racism and economic inequality, 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 data 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 2025 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 24.9% 6.1% 31.0% Asian/Pacific Islander young women 71.7% 5.3% 77.0% Asian/Pacific Islander young men 55.4% 6.1% 61.5% Black young women 20.9% 4.3% 25.2% Black young men 9.7% 3.1% 12.8% Latina young women 30.4% 8.7% 39.0% Latino young men 16.6% 6.4% 23.0% White young women 62.1% 5.3% 67.4% White young men 45.8% 6.6% 52.4% 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 8–15, 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 — 2025 PAI by Race/Ethnicity and Gender

  • In 2025, 72% 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 Asian/Pacific Islander young women would have at least 72% 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. 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 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 (high school graduation, college enrollment, and college completion) changed between the time the PAI was calculated in students’ ninth-grade year and the outcome year (10 years after starting ninth grade).

Figure 3 Attainment rates of college degree or certificate, 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 2015 Ninth-grade cohort year (fall) 27.7% 28.6% 28.7% 29.2% 21.1% 23.2% 24.7% 25.4% 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 example, in 2015 the PAI was predicted to be 25.4%, but the actual attainment level for the 2015 9th grade class was 29.2%.
  • For the years where data is available (2012–15), the improvement in rates between the time the PAI was calculated and the outcome year resulted in 5,264 additional students completing a degree, beyond what was initially predicted (24,991 students initially predicted to complete a degree vs. 30,255 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 2025 CPS Rate
High School Graduation

87%

Black students: 81%

Latinx students: 87%

84%

Black students: 82%

Latinx students: 84%
Immediate Enrollment into College

63%

Black students: 60%

Latinx students: 55%

67%

Black students: 59%

Latinx students: 67%
College Degree or Credential Completion Within Six Years

64%

Black students: 45%

Latinx students: 52%

48%

Black students: 35%

Latinx students: 48%
Rates specific to Black and Latinx students are included here as those populations make up 81% of the CPS student body. The national high school graduation rate is from IPEDS and represents the graduating class of 2023. The national college enrollment rate is from the Bureau of Labor Statistics and represents the high school graduation class of 2024. The national college completion rate is from the NSC and represents the rate of college completion within six years for 2019 first-time enrollees in any institution, aged 20 and younger, while the CPS rate represents the rate for immediate college enrollees from the 2019 CPS graduating class.

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, although less so for CPS graduates than nationally.

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 report is updated annually, to track 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.

High School Graduation Rate — CPS

Student stories: Alejandro CPS Class of 2025

Some people say that once you graduate they feel like an emptiness because they don’t know what they’re gonna do, but like I said, I already had a plan, so I didn’t feel really empty. I just felt just wholesome [and] kind of sad for a bit.

Read Alejandro’s story

Portrait photograph of the student

Among 2021–22 first-time ninth-graders,
84% graduated from high school by spring 2025.

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 26,923 students 2009 26,852 students 2010 27,279 students 2011 25,928 students 2012 27,031 students 2013 26,695 students 2014 26,226 students 2015 26,048 students 2016 26,209 students 2017 26,233 students 2018 26,800 students 2019 26,237 students 2020 25,775 students 2021 26,204 students 2022 25,805 students 2023 25,175 students 2024 25,072 students 2025 26,432 students High school graduation year (spring) 62.2% 65.6% 66.8% 70.4% 72.8% 75.5% 78.2% 78.8% 79.8% 80.5% 81.1% 82.3% 82.9% 81.5% 83.7% 84.8% 83.6% 83.8%
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 2025 high school graduation year rate, for example, represents students who began high school in the fall of 2021. 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 — 2025 CPS High School Graduation Rate

  • The high school graduation rate has increased over the past decade, from 78.8% in 2015 to 83.8% in 2025.
  • The high school graduation rate increased slightly in the past year, and remains 2.3 percentage points above its post-COVID low of 81.5% in 2021, and 1.5 percentage points above its pre-COVID high of 82.3% 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 one 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;G 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 the UChicago Consortium and our partner organizations at the Kersten Institute for Urban Education including 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 On-Track in CPS.

Student stories: Bernijah CPS Class of 2025

I recently caught up with some of my high school and middle school friends that went to [elementary school] with me… We kind of just went down memory lane basically. I feel like it shaped me, [my] character development and just showed me that people in my life are not gonna be just like me at all. That’s a big lesson.

Read Bernijah’s story

Portrait photograph of the student

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 2021–22 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 2025 All students 26,432 students 83.8% Asian/Pacific Islander young women 538 students 96.8% Asian/Pacific Islander young men 582 students 90.5% Black young women 4,624 students 84.9% Black young men 4,410 students 79.5% Latina young women 6,462 students 86.7% Latino young men 6,524 students 81.3% White young women 1,165 students 91.2% White young men 1,207 students 88.5%
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. 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 who 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 (106 students) from the last three graduating classes graduated from high school at a rate of 90.6%, while Native American/Alaskan Native young men from the last three graduating classes (109 students) graduated from high school at a rate of 76.1%. 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 (79.5%) and Latino young men (81.3%) were below the district average (83.8%).

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 2021–22 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 2025 All students 26,432 students 83.8% Active English Learners 3,608 students 83.2% Former English Learners 5,301 students 87.9% Never English Learners 16,549 students 83.1%
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., 2024).
Key Points — High School Graduation Rate by English Learner Status
  • Among 2021–22 ninth-graders, students formerly classified as English Learners graduated from high school at a higher rate (87.9%) than students who had never been classified as English Learners (83.1%).
  • Students who were still classified as English Learners as of ninth grade graduated from high school at a rate on par with (83.2%) students who had never been classified as English Learners (83.1%).

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 2021–22 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 2025 All students 26,432 students 83.8% Students with an IEP related to a learning disability 2,440 students 81.2% Students with an IEP related to another disability 1,631 students 56.3% Students without an IEP 22,361 students 86.1%
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. Please see the Appendices for details about the disability categories used in this table.
Key Points — High School Graduation Rate by Disability Status

  • Among 2021–22 first-time ninth-graders, students with IEPs graduated from high school within four years at lower rates than the four-year district average of 83.8%.

    • The four-year graduation rate for the 2,440 2021–22 CPS ninth-graders receiving services related to a learning disability was 81.2%.
    • The four-year graduation rate for the 1,631 2021–22 CPS ninth-graders receiving services related to another disability was 56.3%.

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.

Immediate College Enrollment Rate — CPS

Student stories: Bernijah CPS Class of 2025

College definitely was an option and I wanted to [go]. I was very excited about college. Just trying to figure out what I wanted to do was more so the harder part and stepping foot into a whole new like scene.

Read Bernijah’s story

Portrait photograph of the student

Among the CPS graduating class of 2025,
67% 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 2012 22,010 students 2013 22,613 students 2014 22,827 students 2015 22,883 students 2016 23,012 students 2017* 23,024 students 2018 23,467 students 2019 23,223 students 2020 22,628 students 2021 22,580 students 2022 23,293 students 2023 22,674 students 2024 22,328 students 2025 23,479 students High school graduation year (spring) 36.6% 38.0% 38.9% 40.1% 42.2% 44.7% 44.0% 45.0% 44.7% 46.2% 47.7% 51.2% 48.8% 48.7% 20.4% 20.7% 19.8% 17.7% 17.9% 21.0% 21.3% 19.9% 16.6% 15.7% 16.6% 15.8% 17.2% 18.4% 56.9% 58.7% 58.7% 57.8% 60.1% 65.7% 65.3% 64.9% 61.3% 61.9% 64.3% 67.0% 66.0% 67.1% Immediate 4-year enrollment Immediate 2-year enrollment * The graph shows a large increase in enrollment between 2016 and 2017. About one-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 2017–24 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 — 2025 CPS Immediate College Enrollment Rate

  • Overall college enrollment is at an all-time high of 67.1%, surpassing its pre-COVID high (which was in 2017) by 1.4 percentage points.
  • The four-year college enrollment rate has increased over time since 2012, while the two-year college enrollment rate has seen more fluctuations and decreased overall.
  • In 2025, the four-year college enrollment rate essentially held steady, while the two-year college enrollment rate increased 1.2 percentage points from the prior year, to 18.4%.

Student stories: Alejandro CPS Class of 2025

One of my best friends, he influenced me to go to North Park University. He wanted to go there…Then I did my research. I applied to universities because it was something that everybody had to do and I ended up liking it and applying for a scholarship. I got the scholarship and I was so deep in, I was like ‘I can’t refuse it.’

Read Alejandro’s story

Portrait photograph of the student

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 2025 high school graduates All students 23,479 students 48.7% 18.4% 67.1% Asian/Pacific Islander young women 550 students 79.5% 10.5% 90.0% Asian/Pacific Islander young men 539 students 75.3% 13.5% 88.9% Black young women 4,132 students 52.0% 15.2% 67.1% Black young men 3,836 students 36.0% 14.1% 50.1% Latina young women 5,931 students 51.6% 23.5% 75.1% Latino young men 5,730 students 37.7% 21.5% 59.2% White young women 1,142 students 76.2% 10.2% 86.4% White young men 1,180 students 61.5% 16.9% 78.5% 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. 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 who 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. Even when combining students from the previous three cohorts, there are not enough students in the Native American/Alaskan Native group to reliably report rates. 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 2025 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 36.0% of Black young men and 37.7% of Latino young men immediately enrolled in a four-year college vs. the districtwide enrollment rate of 48.7%. However, Latino young men and Latina young women enrolled in two-year colleges at the highest rates among all groups (21.5% and 23.5% respectively vs. a districtwide average of 18.4%).

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 2025 high school graduates All students 23,479 students 48.7% 18.4% 67.1% Active English Learners 4,450 students 32.0% 26.5% 58.5% Former English Learners 4,456 students 58.0% 19.5% 77.5% Never English Learners 14,494 students 51.1% 15.5% 66.7% 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., 2024).
Key Points — Immediate College Enrollment Rate by EL Status
  • Among 2025 high school graduates, students who were formerly classified as English Learners enrolled in college at a higher rate (77.5%) than students who were never classified as English Learners (66.7%).
    • Students who were formerly classified as English Learners enrolled in a four-year college at a similar rate (58.0%) as students who were never classified as English Learners (51.1%), but enrolled in two-year college at a much higher rate (19.5%, compared to 15.5%).
  • Students who were still classified as English Learners while in high school enrolled in a four-year college at a much lower rate (32.0%) than their peers, but had the highest two-year college enrollment rate (26.5%).

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 2025 high school graduates All students 23,479 students 48.7% 18.4% 67.1% Students with an IEP related to a learning disability 1,987 students 28.6% 22.6% 51.2% Students with an IEP related to another disability 1,166 students 24.9% 16.6% 41.5% Students without an IEP 20,326 students 52.1% 18.1% 70.2% 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 the highest for students receiving services related to a learning disability (22.6%).
  • However, students with no identified disabilities immediately enrolled into four-year colleges at a higher rate (52.1%) than students receiving services related to a learning disability (28.6%) or receiving services related to another disability (24.9%).
  • The immediate enrollment rate into four-year colleges differed by 3.7 percentage points between students receiving services related to a learning disability (28.6%) and students receiving services related to another disability (24.9%).

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

College Completion Rate — CPS

Student stories: Paola CPS Class of 2019

I decided to now actually finish Harold [Washington.] I graduated last year in June and then I transitioned to Northeastern Illinois University, which this will be already my third semester. So hopefully this is like my last year there, so I can graduate. I decided to pursue psychology… In an ideal world, I would definitely finish my master’s.

Read Paola’s story

Portrait photograph of the student

Among the CPS graduating class of 2019,
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 12a 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. Figure 12b shows persistence rates for the students in these cohorts. Historical data shows that students who persist are more likely to complete college,9 and therefore persistence can be a leading indicator of completion rates.

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-enrollees10 who completed a degree or certificate within six years, see Figure A.3 in the Appendices.

Figure 12a Number of immediate college enrollees and degree completion types Immediate CPS college enrollees and degree completion types, by high school graduation year, 2010–25 Immediate CPS college enrollees and degree completion types, by high school graduation year, 2010–25 Immediate CPS college enrollees and degree completion types, by high school graduation year, 2010–25 Immediate CPS college enrollees and degree completion types, by high school graduation year, 2010–25 Immediate CPS college enrollees and degree completion types, by high school graduation year, 2010–25
Yearly bar plots of college enrollment and outcomes No Degree Completion Completed Associate Degree or Certificate Completed Bachelor’s Degree 2010 11,026 immediate enrollees 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 13,227 5,088 1,353 6,786 2016 13,820 5,300 1,385 7,135 2017 15,130 5,701 1,543 7,886 2018 15,329 5,871 1,534 7,924 2019 15,081 5,923 1,391 7,767 2020 13,876 13,876 2021 13,980 13,980 2022 14,983 14,983 2023 15,200 15,200 2024 14,729 14,729 2025 15,763 15,763 High school graduation year (spring) Yearly bar plots of college enrollment and outcomes No Degree Completion Completed Associate Degree or Certificate Completed Bachelor’s Degree 2010 707 immediate enrollees 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 798 523 70 205 2017 880 605 82 193 2018 899 613 62 224 2019 882 624 62 196 2020 867 867 2021 934 934 2022 981 981 2023 987 987 2024 909 909 2025 975 975 High school graduation year (spring) Yearly bar plots of college enrollment and outcomes No Degree Completion Completed Associate Degree or Certificate Completed Bachelor’s Degree 2010 5,426 immediate enrollees 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 5,027 1,440 358 3,229 2016 5,313 1,547 360 3,406 2017 5,419 1,510 361 3,548 2018 5,339 1,520 363 3,456 2019 5,016 1,427 308 3,281 2020 4,362 4,362 2021 4,211 4,211 2022 4,394 4,394 2023 4,422 4,422 2024 4,344 4,344 2025 4,700 4,700 High school graduation year (spring) Yearly bar plots of college enrollment and outcomes No Degree Completion Completed Associate Degree or Certificate Completed Bachelor’s Degree 2010 3,480 immediate enrollees 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 5,556 1,942 781 2,833 2016 6,049 2,179 832 3,038 2017 6,968 2,403 956 3,609 2018 7,160 2,435 975 3,750 2019 7,269 2,606 881 3,782 2020 6,691 6,691 2021 6,834 6,834 2022 7,466 7,466 2023 7,509 7,509 2024 7,280 7,280 2025 7,856 7,856 High school graduation year (spring) Yearly bar plots of college enrollment and outcomes No Degree Completion Completed Associate Degree or Certificate Completed Bachelor’s Degree 2010 1,391 immediate enrollees 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 1,445 940 110 395 2017 1,616 1,051 131 434 2018 1,687 1,160 111 416 2019 1,652 1,109 117 426 2020 1,693 1,693 2021 1,742 1,742 2022 1,847 1,847 2023 2,037 2,037 2024 1,867 1,867 2025 1,930 1,930 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 2010 bar can be understood as follows: among high school graduates in 2010, 11,026 students immediately enrolled in college. Of those 11,026 immediate enrollees, 3,657 had completed a bachelor’s degree by the end of six years after high school graduation (by spring 2016), 1,124 had completed an associate degree or certificate, and 6,245 had not completed a college credential.
Figure 12b Number of immediate college enrollees and their one-year persistence Immediate CPS college enrollees and their one-year persistence, by high school graduation year, 2010–25 Immediate CPS college enrollees and their one-year persistence, by high school graduation year, 2010–25 Immediate CPS college enrollees and their one-year persistence, by high school graduation year, 2010–25 Immediate CPS college enrollees and their one-year persistence, by high school graduation year, 2010–25 Immediate CPS college enrollees and their one-year persistence, by high school graduation year, 2010–25
Yearly bar plots of college enrollment and persistence outcomes Non-Persisters Persisters 2010 11,026 immediate enrollees 8,294 2,732 2011 11,898 8,803 3,095 2012 12,531 9,199 3,332 2013 13,265 9,656 3,609 2014 13,396 9,668 3,728 2015 13,227 9,922 3,305 2016 13,820 10,466 3,354 2017 15,130 11,258 3,872 2018 15,329 11,273 4,056 2019 15,081 10,982 4,099 2020 13,876 10,021 3,855 2021 13,980 10,307 3,673 2022 14,983 10,990 3,993 2023 15,200 11,372 3,828 2024 14,729 11,365 3,364 2025 15,763 15,763 High school graduation year (spring) Yearly bar plots of college enrollment and persistence outcomes Non-Persisters Persisters 2010 707 immediate enrollees 656 51 2011 765 682 83 2012 740 673 67 2013 813 746 67 2014 801 719 82 2015 855 779 76 2016 798 739 59 2017 880 801 79 2018 899 819 80 2019 882 798 84 2020 867 778 89 2021 934 853 81 2022 981 889 92 2023 987 912 75 2024 909 836 73 2025 975 975 High school graduation year (spring) Yearly bar plots of college enrollment and persistence outcomes Non-Persisters Persisters 2010 5,426 immediate enrollees 3,807 1,619 2011 5,500 3,789 1,711 2012 5,792 3,840 1,952 2013 5,559 3,688 1,871 2014 5,445 3,510 1,935 2015 5,027 3,389 1,638 2016 5,313 3,628 1,685 2017 5,419 3,551 1,868 2018 5,339 3,503 1,836 2019 5,016 3,284 1,732 2020 4,362 2,789 1,573 2021 4,211 2,672 1,539 2022 4,394 2,810 1,584 2023 4,422 2,882 1,540 2024 4,344 2,932 1,412 2025 4,700 4,700 High school graduation year (spring) Yearly bar plots of college enrollment and persistence outcomes Non-Persisters Persisters 2010 3,480 immediate enrollees 2,606 874 2011 4,101 3,027 1,074 2012 4,534 3,407 1,127 2013 5,227 3,817 1,410 2014 5,481 4,040 1,441 2015 5,556 4,163 1,393 2016 6,049 4,650 1,399 2017 6,968 5,285 1,683 2018 7,160 5,259 1,901 2019 7,269 5,236 2,033 2020 6,691 4,748 1,943 2021 6,834 4,987 1,847 2022 7,466 5,379 2,087 2023 7,509 5,519 1,990 2024 7,280 5,620 1,660 2025 7,856 7,856 High school graduation year (spring) Yearly bar plots of college enrollment and persistence outcomes Non-Persisters Persisters 2010 1,391 immediate enrollees 1,210 181 2011 1,322 1,126 196 2012 1,227 1,088 139 2013 1,370 1,185 185 2014 1,441 1,222 219 2015 1,551 1,396 155 2016 1,445 1,278 167 2017 1,616 1,421 195 2018 1,687 1,492 195 2019 1,652 1,455 197 2020 1,693 1,494 199 2021 1,742 1,573 169 2022 1,847 1,661 186 2023 2,037 1,855 182 2024 1,867 1,698 169 2025 1,930 1,930 High school graduation year (spring)
In this figure, persistence is defined as being enrolled in any post-secondary institution in both the fall semester directly after high school graduation and the subsequent fall semester. This differs slightly from CPS’s definition, which includes students who enrolled in any post-secondary institution in the fall or spring semester directly after high school graduation, and were also enrolled the subsequent fall semester. The rightmost bar in the figure does not show persistence outcomes because data is not yet available for that cohort of graduates. As an example of how to read this figure, the 2010 bar can be understood as follows: among high school graduates in 2010, 11,026 students immediately enrolled in college. Of those 11,026 immediate enrollees, 8,294 persisted in college, and 2,732 did not persist.

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

  • 2,266 more graduates from the CPS class of 2019 completed a bachelor’s degree than graduates from the CPS class of 2010, and an additional 267 graduates from the CPS class of 2019 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 1,522 more graduates from the CPS class of 2019 who enrolled in college, but left college without having earned a degree, as compared to the CPS class of 2010.
  • The number of immediate college enrollees from CPS is at an all-time high in 2025, despite a decrease in ninth-grade class size.
Figure 13 Six-year college completion rates among immediate four-year enrollees over time CPS graduating classes of 2010–19
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 7,748 students 2012 8,046 students 2013 8,585 students 2014 8,885 students 2015 9,169 students 2016 9,705 students 2017 10,286 students 2018 10,332 students 2019 10,454 students High school graduation year (spring) 45.8% 46.6% 46.6% 48.9% 49.6% 48.8% 48.4% 49.1% 50.0% 49.9% 1.9% 1.5% 1.5% 1.7% 1.7% 2.3% 2.5% 2.2% 2.0% 2.2% 5.6% 5.5% 5.5% 5.5% 5.1% 4.8% 4.5% 4.3% 4.0% 3.6% 53.2% 53.6% 53.6% 56.1% 56.5% 55.9% 55.3% 55.6% 56.0% 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 2019 rate includes all 2019 CPS graduates who completed a degree or credential by spring of 2025. Due to rounding, individual rates may not sum exactly to the total rate displayed.

Key Points (Four-Year Enrollees) — 2025 CPS Six-Year College Completion Rate Among Immediate Four-Year Enrollees

  • One-half of 2019 CPS graduates (52.1%) who immediately enrolled in a four-year college completed a bachelor’s degree within six years, an increase of about 4.4 percentage points since 2010.
  • The percentage of CPS graduates who immediately enrolled in a four-year college who completed any degree or certificate within six years increased 2.5 percentage points (from 53.2% to 55.7%) since 2010.
Figure 14 Six-year college completion rates among immediate two-year enrollees over time CPS graduating classes of 2010–19
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 4,058 students 2016 4,115 students 2017 4,844 students 2018 4,997 students 2019 4,627 students High school graduation year (spring) 3.5% 3.3% 2.8% 2.4% 2.5% 1.7% 2.2% 1.8% 1.7% 1.8% 3.6% 3.7% 4.0% 4.1% 5.1% 8.2% 6.7% 6.9% 8.1% 8.6% 18.5% 19.3% 19.4% 21.5% 19.4% 22.6% 23.1% 22.7% 22.5% 21.9% 25.6% 26.3% 26.2% 28.0% 26.9% 32.5% 32.1% 31.4% 32.3% 32.3% 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 2019 rate includes all 2019 CPS graduates who completed a degree or credential by spring of 2025. 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) — 2025 CPS Six-Year College Completion Rate Among Immediate Two-Year Enrollees

  • Among immediate two-year college enrollees, 10.4% of 2019 graduates completed a bachelor’s degree within six years (by 2025), and an additional 21.9% completed only an associate degree or certificate.
  • Among 2019 high school graduates who immediately enrolled in a two-year college, completion rates held steady from the previous year to 32.3%, and remain over 6 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, which may have contributed to the increase in completion rates.
  • More than two-thirds (67.7%) of immediate two-year college enrollees had not completed any credential by the end of six years.

Student stories: Elizabeth CPS Class of 2019

I still got the degree at the end of the day. I’m using it and getting involved in the community, I’m still doing art, and trying to make it something that I do professionally.

Read Elizabeth’s story

Portrait photograph of the student

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 2019 immediate college enrollees
Bar chart comparing data 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100% Percentage of 2019 immediate college enrollees All students 15,081 students 39.3% 9.2% 48.5% Asian/Pacific Islander young women 460 students 76.5% 6.5% 83.0% Asian/Pacific Islander young men 422 students 64.5% 7.6% 72.0% Black young women 3,007 students 33.0% 6.5% 39.5% Black young men 2,009 students 21.7% 5.6% 27.2% Latina young women 4,088 students 41.1% 12.8% 53.9% Latino young men 3,181 students 29.1% 11.2% 40.3% White young women 887 students 72.3% 6.4% 78.7% White young men 765 students 61.2% 7.8% 69.0% 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 2019, 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 2025.
  • 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 group 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

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: Usher, A., Mahaffie, S., Nagaoka, J., & McKoy, D. (2026). The educational attainment of Chicago Public Schools students: 2025. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Consortium on School Research.

References

See works cited

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Previous Reports

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

2025

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.

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.