Chicago Public Schools Recognizes Student Progress and Class of 2025 Achievements

Chicago Public Schools Recognizes Student Progress and Class of 2025 Achievements

District Highlights Academic Gains, Rising Graduation and Freshman-On-Track Rates, and Record $3.1 Billion in Scholarships

CHICAGO — Chicago Public Schools (CPS) released the District’s 2024–25 Annual Academic Data, a comprehensive look at student progress and success across the city. The report shows continued gains across key academic indicators, including higher graduation and freshman-on-track rates, stronger college persistence, and a record-breaking $3.1 billion in scholarships earned by the Class of 2025.

More than 56 percent of graduates (56.3%) earned early college or career credentials, while the four-year graduation rate rose to 82.6 percent, up from 75.4 percent in 2016. Three out of four CPS graduates who enroll in college now stay on track with a 75 percent college persistence rate, boding well for earning their degrees and in line with the most recently available rates for high-poverty districts.

“Our data underscores the measurable progress Chicago’s students are making across key academic indicators,” said Interim CEO/Superintendent Dr. Macquline King. “These results reflect the hard work, resilience, and brilliance of our students and educators—and remind us that we must keep pressing forward to ensure every student in every neighborhood has the opportunity to thrive. When Chicago’s students succeed, our entire city rises with them.”

The District’s Academic Data release coincides with the Illinois State Board of Education’s (ISBE) Annual State Report Card, new state benchmarks for grades 3–8 assessments, and the state’s return to the ACT as a key high school performance metric. While CPS and ISBE report similar metrics, there are some variations in calculation methods across the two entities.

In 2024–25, CPS served more than 325,000 students—reflecting the rich diversity and deep potential of Chicago’s youth: 46.4% Latino, 34.3% Black, 11.8% White, 4.9% Asian, 1.9% multiracial, and the remaining 0.7% listed with various other races/ethnicities. Importantly, CPS students continue to outperform expectations despite greater challenges than the state average:

71% are from low-income families

27.3% are English Learners

16.4% are students with disabilities

3.8% are in temporary housing

“Our students come to us with more needs than any other district in Illinois, and we are honored to have the opportunity to serve them,” said Chicago Board of Education President Sean B. Harden.“ Their success demonstrates what is possible when educators, families, and communities work together. We have an obligation to ensure that our students receive full and fair funding. Achieving funding adequacy isn’t just a fiscal goal; it’s a moral one that directly impacts our students’ futures.”

Under Illinois’ Evidence-Based Funding model, the goal is for every district to reach 90 percent adequacy by FY2027. Based on current data, CPS remains about $985 million short of that benchmark for FY2026.

District leaders will continue sharing academic outcomes and progress on Success 2029: Together We Rise, the CPS five-year strategic plan, through public Board meetings and regular family communications.

Highlights from the 2024–25 School Year are noted in the attached slide deck and below:

Academic Growth and Student Achievement

Young Students Outperforming Big-City Peers: Kindergarten through second-grade students outperformed national averages in math and outpaced other large urban districts in reading.

Continued Growth on State Assessments (IAR): CPS students in grades 3–8 improved by 0.6 percentage points in English Language Arts and 0.7 points in math over last year. Over the past three years, proficiency has increased 12 points in ELA and 5.2 points in math, with fewer students—especially those with IEPs—scoring below proficiency.

Rising Freshman On-Track: 84.9 percent of ninth graders met the District’s on-track benchmark, even after the standard grew more rigorous this year, requiring more credits than before.

Strong Fine Arts Offerings: 81 percent of students participate in Fine Arts across CPS, compared to the State average of 71 percent. Arts education can expand minds, strengthen communities, and improve academic performance.

College and Career Success

Growing Early College and Career Credit (ECCE): More than 56 percent of graduates earned early college or career credentials through AP, IB, dual credit/enrollment, CTE certifications, JROTC, or the Illinois Seal of Biliteracy.

Graduation Rate: The Class of 2025 achieved an 82.6 percent graduation rate — continuing a decade of steady growth from 68.2 percent in 2015.

Scholarships: Graduates earned a record $3.1 billion in scholarships, the highest reported in District history.

College Persistence: Data from the Class of 2023 show 75 percent of CPS students, including charters and Options students, who enroll in college returned for a second year—in line with national averages for high poverty districts, which most recently (Class of 2022) showed a persistence rate of 74.4 percent.

Teaching and Learning Environment

Growing and Diverse Workforce: CPS now employs more than 24,000 teachers, up by more than 2,700 since 2020. In the past two years, the number of CPS Black, Hispanic, and multiracial educators has increased, reflecting the District’s investment in ensuring a diverse faculty that reflects our student population.

World-Class Schools: Seven CPS high schools were named among the nation’s best by U.S. News & World Report: Walter Payton College Prep, Northside College Prep, Lane Tech, Whitney M. Young Magnet, Jones College Prep, Brooks College Prep, and Hancock College Prep. The 2025 Illinois Governor’s Blue Ribbon Schools program recognized Prescott Elementary and the 2024 program, then administered by the U.S. Department of Education, recognized Hawthorne Elementary Scholastic Academy.

Attendance and Engagement

Improved Attendance: While challenges remain, student attendance showed year-over-year improvement, supported by new outreach efforts, family engagement initiatives, and school-based attendance teams.

Chicago Public Schools (CPS) is dedicated to providing a high-quality education to all students, beginning with the District’s free full-day preschool programming for four-year-old scholars and continuing through neighborhood, magnet and selective-enrollment elementary schools that provide a rigorous K-12 education with schools that specialize in the fine arts, world language and culture, dual language, STEM, International Baccalaureate (IB), classical programs, and more. The rising District-wide freshmen-on-track and high school graduation rates reflect the hard work of the CPS community, including families, staff, and students across 635 schools. CPS celebrates the diversity of its students who cite about 180 home languages. Learn more about CPS at www.cps.edu and connect with CPS on Facebook, X, Instagram, and LinkedIn.

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