In a relatively normal year, spring is a complicated time for CPS seniors, many of whom depend on their counselors, teachers, and other adults for support with financial aid packages and complex college decisions. In conversations with peers and adults, they grapple with how different post-secondary choices will affect their identities, relationships, and future.

Slightly fewer Chicago students enrolled in four-year colleges and universities last fall despite the pandemic’s pressures — but two-year institutions saw a troubling dip in both new arrivals and in students returning for their second year on campus.

William Delgado is a Postdoctoral Scholar at the University of Chicago and an Affiliated Researcher at the UChicago Consortium. He is currently working on the REACH project to examine teacher quality. He also studies human decision-making, with a focus on parents. His overarching goal is to understand and address inequality in opportunities and to foster human potential. His fields of interests include labor economics, economics of education, and behavioral economics.

Key Findings

• CPS graduates from the class of 2020 were about as likely to enroll in a four-year college as previous cohorts: 41.8 percent in 2019 vs. 40.8 percent in 2020.
• CPS graduates from the class of 2019 were slightly more likely than previous cohorts to remain in four-year colleges between spring and fall 2020: 81.5 percent in 2019 vs. 84.1 percent in 2020.
• CPS graduates from the class of 2020 were less likely to enroll in a two-year college: 20.0 percent in 2019 vs.

The divide among education researchers over how COVID-19 is impacting students isn’t just a matter of whether they see the glass as half-filled or half emptied. It’s whether the glass is still in one piece or been slammed against the wall and shattered.

We are beyond thrilled to announce that UCW High School senior Moses Corona was accepted to Johns Hopkins University’s Class of 2025! Moses is among the fewer than 5% of students who were accepted to Johns Hopkins through the regular decision application round.

Over the next five years, the UChicago Consortium has chosen to pursue an agenda that centers equity and student experience at its core.

Elaine Allensworth discusses how high school GPAs (HSGPAs) are often perceived to represent inconsistent levels of readiness for college across high schools, whereas test scores are seen as comparable...