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CPS Scholarship Program Will Expand to DePaul, Loyola, Roosevelt, IIT

By Ted Cox | October 6, 2015 6:23am
 Mayor Rahm Emanuel and City Colleges Chancellor Cheryl Hyman (r.) announcing the original program for CPS grads.
Mayor Rahm Emanuel and City Colleges Chancellor Cheryl Hyman (r.) announcing the original program for CPS grads.
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DNAinfo/Ted Cox

CITY HALL — The city is expanding a program providing university scholarships for Chicago Public Schools graduates who complete two years at City Colleges, Mayor Rahm Emanuel's office has announced.

It builds on a program unveiled a year ago called Chicago Star that first provided free tuition to City Colleges of Chicago for CPS grads who maintain a B average, then expanded it to provide a $5,000 break on tuition to finish a bachelor's degree first offered in August at the University of Illinois at Chicago.

Emanuel and City Colleges Chancellor Cheryl Hyman will hold an event to announce Tuesday that the continuation program will expand to six area universities: DePaul, Loyola, Roosevelt, Governors State, National Louis and the Illinois Institute of Technology.

"Having a college education should always be determined by a student’s willingness to work, not their ability to pay, so with the support of our partners at Chicago’s top universities we are giving our students a clear pathway from high school to a four-year degree,” Emanuel said in a statement.

"The Chicago Star Partnership will help ensure that our hard-working graduates remain in Chicago for college, and continue to contribute their talents and skills to our growing economy and communities."

The UIC program offers a $5,000 break on tuition over the last two years of schooling toward a bachelor's degree, and the other colleges are expected to offer similar breaks, perhaps including guaranteed admission for City Colleges grads who earn an associate's degree with a B average.

That's a fraction of the tuition costs at the universities, but Emanuel has justified that by saying "every dollar counts" for students seeking to pay their way through college.

"In order to secure a family-sustaining career in today’s economy, a post-secondary credential is needed, and in many cases that credential is a bachelor’s degree,” Hyman added. "The Chicago Star Partnership offers our high-achieving high-school students a way to earn an associate’s and bachelor’s degree, saving tens of thousands of dollars along the way."

According to the Mayor's Press Office, almost 1,000 CPS grads are taking advantage of the free City Colleges tuition in the first year of the program.

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