Since 2019, City Colleges of Chicago has partnered with Chicago Public Schools to implement the Chicago Roadmap for College Success, an effort to expand early college opportunities for students while implementing model pathways in high-wage, high-growth industries and ramping up student career exploration. According to the University of Chicago’s To&Through Project, 27% of Chicago Public Schools’ freshmen will go on to earn a college credential by the time they’re about 25 years old. To help increase the postsecondary attainment rate, City Colleges of Chicago seeks to develop clear pathways that begin with early college in high school, continue through associate degree completion, and then support transfer to a bachelor’s degree program at a four-year college or university.
Our Role
From 2023 to 2025, EdSystems collaborated with Chicago Public Schools and the City Colleges of Chicago to support the development of extended model pathways, starting with early college coursework in high school and continuing through associate and bachelor’s degree completion. EdSystems analyzed labor market information, as well as community college and university courses, and packaged the findings into student-facing materials to support career exploration and recruitment into pathways. Additionally, we are supported City Colleges in targeting specific university majors and programs for strategic agreements that extend the current work with Chicago Public Schools on Model Pathways.
