Washington, D.C. – Today, Great Schools released their 2019 College Success Awards, recognizing more than 1,700 public schools in 25 states that excel in preparing students to attend and succeed in college. Of these winning schools, 153 are public charter schools.
Now in its second year, the College Success Awards use high school-level data to identify top-performing schools. This data includes metrics on college readiness, graduation rates, enrollment, college course remediation rates, and/or persistence to a second year of college. Only 25 states were able to provide this data, which provides valuable information on students’ postsecondary outcomes to the public and gives important insights to parents, educators, researchers, and policymakers.
According to the Pell Institute only 11 percent of low-income students will graduate from college within six years – while for students in large, non-profit, mostly urban charter school networks, the rates scale from moderately better to 4 times higher than the average for students from similar socioeconomic backgrounds.
National Alliance President and CEO Nina Rees has released the following statement:
“It is critical that as we evaluate the success of K-12 public schools, we consider which schools and school models are not just getting students to college but succeeding in equipping them to graduate. These awards show that charter schools are serving students well.
With an estimated five million students across the country that would attend a charter school if one were available to them, it’s unfortunate that every student still does not have access to a great public school. The public-school system benefits from the high number of public charter schools that are being recognized for getting kids both to and through college.”
