1. What is the current state of the educational attainment of Chicago Public Schools (CPS) students?
2. How have CPS students performed on key attainment milestones over time?
This annual report looks closely at how CPS students are progressing on the path to and through high school and college. In particular, we examine five key milestones: Freshman OnTrack, high school graduation, college enrollment, college persistence, and college completion, and track how rates on these milestones have changed across time.
Key Findings
High School Graduation
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In 2020, the district’s high school graduation rate continued its yearly rise by 1 percentage point.
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Now at 83 percent, the CPS high school graduation rate has nearly caught up to the national average, which was 86 percent the year prior according to the National Center for Education Statistics.
College Enrollment
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Immediate enrollment in four-year colleges increased over the past decade, from 35.2 percent in 2010 to 41.3 percent in 2020.
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Immediate enrollment in two-year colleges has seen more fluctuations, falling from 19.5 percent in 2010 to 16.4 percent in 2020 (mostly due to the decline between 2019 and 2020).
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High school graduates who began as English Learners immediately enrolled in college at about the same rate as students who were never classified as English Learners.
College Completion
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Six-year college outcomes slightly improved in 2019, the most recent year of data available.
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Among students who immediately enrolled in four-year colleges, the degree completion rate rose from 54 percent for 2012 CPS graduates to 56 percent for 2013 CPS graduates, representing close to an additional 200 students completing college.
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Among students who immediately enrolled in two-year colleges, the degree completion rate rose from 26 percent for 2012 CPS graduates to 28 percent for 2013 CPS graduates, representing close to an additional 100 students completing college.
Post-Secondary Attainment Index (PAI)
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If current rates of high school graduation, college enrollment, and college completion were not to change over the next decade, 20 percent of current CPS ninth-graders would complete a bachelor’s degree and another 7 percent would complete an associate degree or certificate within 10 years (when they will be approximately 25 years old).
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Together, this means that the 2020 PAI is 27 percent.
