The metaphors used to talk about students’ journeys through college have changed as the understanding of those journeys, and the post-secondary landscape they take place in, have evolved. A pipeline, a road, a maze: each suggests a trajectory through college of varying directness and characterizes students’ experiences very differently.
As we document in our new report, Navigating the Maze: Understanding Chicago Public Schools (CPS) Graduates’ Paths Through College, the reality is that, like most graduates across the nation, the journey CPS graduates experience through college is rarely a straight line between point A of enrollment and point B of graduation. Many students change colleges, sometimes multiple times, and many take semesters off, sometimes returning to college, sometimes not...