Illinois Institute of Technology is partnering with Chicago Public Schools (CPS) and 13 other universities and colleges to form the Chicago Higher Education Compact, a collaboration dedicated to developing solutions to increase college enrollment, persistence, and completion for CPS graduates, with the goal of increasing the college graduation rate for CPS students to 60 percent by 2025.
A report by the University of Chicago Consortium on School Research reveals that an estimated 14 percent of ninth-graders in CPS will earn a four-year college degree within 10 years of starting high school, up from just 8 percent in 2006. Despite the fact that more CPS students are graduating from high school than ever before, the report also calls attention to the fact that many students remain unprepared for college, and that students experience barriers to college completion once enrolled. The Compact seeks to address barriers and enhance preparation...