Chicago Jesuit Academy awarded grant for their College Persistence Programs

Chicago Jesuit Academy serves young men whose families reside on the West Side of Chicago where opportunities are few.

A $20,000 grant from the  Foundation will help to expand the College-Persistence Programs as the number of alumni served grows from 185 in 2017-2018 to nearly 300 by 2020. Specifically, they would allow CJA to hire an additional College-Persistence Counselor in the 2018-2019 school year. This helps ensure that CJA will be able to deliver personalized high school placement, high school persistence, college placement, college persistence and career guidance to all alumni, even as the school doubles in size. Funds will be used during the 2018-2019 school year, specifically June 1, 2018 through May 31, 2019. The specific program goal is for 97% of CJA alumni to graduate from high school. Thereafter, the goal is for 50% of CJA alumni to graduate from a four-year college or university, 25% of CJA alumni to graduate from a two-year college or technical training program, and 80% of non-degree earning alumni, representing 25% of total alumni, to be meaningfully employed within three years of earning a high school diploma. The rationale for these goals is simple. CJA believes that all young people should have the opportunity to realize their potential, use their gifts in a meaningful way in service to others and have economic freedom. This focus on long-term outcomes is exactly why CJA established and continues to build the CollegePersistence Programs.