Read City Colleges' Annual Update - Forging Forward: 2022 in Review

2022 was a year of continued progress and innovation at City Colleges of Chicago. We launched new initiatives, including a first-year experience program at each of our seven colleges, and celebrated major milestones for established programs, such as welcoming the largest class of Star Scholars to-date.

Those accomplishments are more are outlined in our annual update, Forging Forward: 2022 in Review.

The new report highlights the data behind our programs and work last year. Importantly, it also features several Chicagoans who were impacted by those efforts.

One student, Demetrius Porter, who completed Olive-Harvey College’s Commercial Driver’s License program at no cost through the Future Ready initiative, said that the program prepared him for a position at a national logistics company. He’s now earning the highest salary of his career.

Jocelyn Collado, now a software engineer for Microsoft, said that Wright College’s Engineering Pathways program gave her everything she needed to transfer to the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and succeed in her career.

Our annual report also highlights the support our students received throughout the year as they moved closer to their college and career dreams. Approximately one in every four credit students received a Chancellor’s Retention Grant in fall 2022 to help them enroll and stay enrolled in their classes. Additionally, about one out of every six students utilized our colleges’ Healthy Market food pantries to take home fresh food for themselves and their families.

As Vice Chancellor for Student Experience Dr. Stephanie Krah said, “The journey to success starts before a student steps foot in a classroom. We need to understand our students’ realities so we can offer the support they need to succeed. That’s why we provide food pantries, options for childcare, and so many other critical resources at our colleges.”

Our vision at City Colleges is to be recognized as Chicago’s most accessible higher education engine of socioeconomic mobility and racial equity—empowering all Chicagoans to take part in building a stronger and more just city. We are working to realize this vision and benefit even more of our city’s hardworking residents in 2023.

To read the new report, Forging Forward: 2022 in Review, click here.