Chicago Public Schools Selective Enrollment Tier System

4 Types of Public Schools in Chicago

Chicago's Public School system has four schools: Neighborhood schools, selective enrollment schools, magnet schools, and charter schools. All children enrolled at a neighborhood school are required to reside inside of their assigned boundaries, and you can confirm your neighborhood school by using this School Locator Map provided by Chicago Public Schools

About CPS Tiers

In Chicago, students will be accepted into top selective schools based on grades, standardized test scores, and entrance exam scores. However, Chicago Public School (CPS) places the entire city into 4 socioeconomic "tiers" based on various income and other economic factors of a particular area or neighborhood. Tier 1 represents the communities and neighborhoods that have the lowest socioeconomic status, while Tier 4 represents the areas with the highest socioeconomic status.

Where does Chicago Public Schools get the data?

CPS has a Tier update each year. Since 2017 these data are available via their Schools Locator tool. This dataset was published in PDF formats in 2017 which combines each city census tract with their respective tiers.

Why should I Care What Tier I'm In?

All of the Selective Enrollment Chicago Public Schools school have separate cutoff scores, based on the tier (or area) which the student currently resides as their primary residence. The required cutoff scores can be significantly lower between a tier 1 and tier 4 socioeconomic area, so based on how competitive the admissions process is, the tier system could provide your child with the chance at a much better education.

Exclusive List of Tier 1 Properties

To say the admissions process for the selective enrollment high schools in chicago is stressful would be a huge understatement. The selective enrollment high schools in chicago provide such a higher level of education, overall learning experience, and open doors to many future opportunities. Therefore, we have curated a list of properties that are located within the Tier 1 socio economic boundaries. Chicago public schools does change the tier system on an annual basis, so please confirm the tier system for upcoming year.