The City Colleges of Chicago (CCC) have made a pledge for educational equity, and institutional and organizational partnerships will help make that pledge a reality.
The seven community colleges in the CCC system currently have a 30% completion rate for Black students and 33% completion rate for Latinx students. But CCC has committed to reaching a 55% completion rate for all by fiscal year 2032.
Pictured from the left, OMD CEO, Aneesh Sohoni; Kelly Hallberg, Scientific Director at University of Chicago Inclusive Economy Lab; Veronica Herrero, Chief of Staff and Vice-Chancellor of Institutional Advancement at City Colleges of Chicago; Joanna Trotter Executive Director at JPMorgan Chase; Marianne Bertrand, Professor of Economics at University of Chicago Booth School of Business .
“It is a long-term goal, but it’s still incredibly ambitious when you look at the gap that’s currently there,” said Herrero. “We had to look at that gap and say, ‘ok, these are really big gaps, but we can’t be quiet about it, or say it’s too big to close.’ We absolutely had to put it out there, to mobilize not just district but city and state partners around this goal.”
Executing the vision will take collaboration, resources and data-driven solutions. That’s one of the reasons CCC has decided to expand its partnership with One Million Degrees (OMD), an organization that supports community college students to completion, ensuring they reach the path to economic mobility.
OMD currently serves about 900 students in the CCC network. Starting at Olive-Harvey College and eventually expanding to Malcolm X College, which have the highest percentage and number of Black students in the CCC system respectively, all incoming students will automatically be supported by OMD coaches. Students will have to “opt-out” of wrap-around services instead of “opting-in,” an approach that will make all the difference, said Dr. Jhenai Chandler, director of college completion at The Institute for College Access and Success (TICAS).
“We want to make sure all students do well,” said Chandler. “Now, OMD and CCC will be able to be proactive in pushing out services and supports that they know have gotten students to completion and retained in academics.”
