“Significant progress” driven by graduation rates
The Consortium’s so-called “degree attainment index” of 14 percent was calculated by multiplying the most recent CPS high school graduation rate, college enrollment rate and college graduation rate. Together, those three rates create a new, single metric that can be tracked over time. The rate offers a more real-time estimate than simply following a cohort of students over a decade.
In the new study, the Consortium also calculated a separate degree attainment rate that includes CPS students who did not follow a straight-forward path to college. This includes students who first enrolled in a two-year college and those who did not immediately enroll in any type of college after graduating from high school. The adjusted rate inches up to 17 percent today and would have been about 9 percent if it had been calculated in 2006.
Using either the 14 or 17 percent rate, CPS compared favorably to other large urban districts, the Consortium found. For example, New York, Philadelphia and Washington D.C. have reported degree attainment rates ranging from 9 to 11 percent.
Nationally, less than a third of 9th-graders obtain four-year degrees by their mid-twenties.