Because of the hard work of students, their families, teachers and principals, Mayor Rahm Emanuel and Chicago Public Schools announced that Chicago’s students have achieved a record high graduation rate, with 73.5 percent of the class – or 20,438 students – earning a diploma. The graduation rate has steadily risen over the past five years, growing more than 16 percentage points since 2011, when just over half of CPS students earned a high school diploma. The gains came from every geographic region of the city and all types of CPS schools, with neighborhood high schools improving by 4.6 points, from 68.5 percent to 73.1 percent, and charter schools improving by 0.8 points, from 77.4 percent to 78.2 percent. Every CPS geographic network saw improvements in their graduation rates. The higher graduation rate is leading to CPS students’ increased enrollment in college, with CPS graduates nearly reaching the national college enrollment rate for the first time. This landmark achievement in the graduation rate tops off the list Chicago students’ recent progress on a number of key indicators, including:

• Math and Reading improvements. For the first time, nearly 60 percent of CPS students are reading at or above the national average and more than half are beating the national average in math, reaching all-time highs for the District in the 2015-16 school year.
• School Attendance. School attendance is on a steady rise, hitting 93.4 percent attendance for the 2015-16 school year, up from 91.7 percent in 2010-11. Two-thirds of District schools showed improved attendance over the previous year.
• College enrollment. For the first time, 42 percent of CPS graduates enrolled in a 4-year college or university in the 2014-15 – quickly approaching the national average of a 44 percent college enrollment rate.
• Career and college credentials. In the 2014-15 school year, 36 percent of CPS students earned one or more of the following college or career credentials: early college credit, a 3+ on an AP exam, a 4+ on an IB exam, an approved career certification or a JROTC program completion certification. This represents a 5 point increase from the year before.