Chicago Public Schools Four-Year Graduation Rate Rises to 83.4 Percent: Second Straight Yearly Increase
CHICAGO, Illinois — Chicago Public Schools (CPS), in Cook County, Illinois, announced on October 21 that the four-year graduation rate for the class of 2026 rose to 83.4 percent, up almost one percentage point from 82.5 percent for the class of 2025 — the second consecutive year the rate has increased. The rate has risen by almost 10 percentage points since 2018.
CPS CEO Macquline King announced the figures to students and educators at Von Steuben Metropolitan Science Center, a high school in the North Park neighborhood. King also cited college enrollment for the class of 2025, the most recent data available: about seven in 10 CPS graduates enrolled in college, compared with a national average of about five in 10 for high-poverty schools, according to the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center. The district also highlighted growth in students graduating with college credit earned in high school. CPS had not yet released school-by-school graduation rates.
The district's chronic absenteeism rate — the share of students missing more than 10 percent of school days — has hovered around 40 percent. (GSM, based on Chalkbeat Chicago reporting)
Source: GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: Chicago 公立学校总部大楼资料图。图片：David K. Staub，CC BY 3.0，经 Wikimedia Commons。 / Chicago Public Schools headquarters building, file photo. Photo: David K. Staub, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
