GEAR UP Chicago

College and Career Resources

Chicago GEAR UP strives to collaborate with organizations that match our national objectives. The following organizations offer resources that our GEAR UP students can tap into to better prepare for and succeed in college.

College Planning | Learn tips and tricks of what it takes to get to college and succeed

KnowHow2Go

KnowHow2Go is a website with lots of college prep resources for families and students from
middle school through high school. Read about the 4 Steps to College and
more.

College Data

COLLEGEdata.com is a comprehensive online college toolkit, with an array of resources which include:

College Match
Admissions Tracker
Financial Aid Tracker
Scholarship Finder
Net Price Calculator
Compare Your Awards
EFC Calculator

Naviance

The Office of College and Career Success at CPS has purchased Naviance as their college and career planning online tool. Students can build portfolios using features as:

College planning, search and application tools
Career interest assessments
Electronic ILP
Transcript requests

Think about career choices

College Personality Quiz

College Personality Quiz US News Education
Before deciding where to go or what to major in at college, find out college personality with this 11 part quiz that will help you answer the following questions:

What is Your Level of School Enthusiasm?
Are You A Participant Learner?
How Much Do You Love Knowledge?
How Strong Are Your Academic Skills?
How Independent Are You?
How Career-Oriented Are You?
How Socially Conscious Are You?
How Well Do You Understand Yourself?
What's Your Academic/Social Balance?
How Eager Are You for College?
Interpreting Your Scores

My Next Move

My Next Move through CareerOneStop was designed to help high-school students manage their career and employment path.

My Next Move features:

a simple, seven-step guide to print or use online.
easy access to online resources and straightforward action items.

Click for more info on My Next Move

Pay Scale

Pay Scale helps answer the question: How much money will you make?
It depends on the career you choose and the education level you achieve.

Get an idea of what your salary might be after 5 years, 10 years, and 20 years.

Explore College Degrees

College Navigator

With College Navigator, you can:

Search for colleges.
Refine your search with More Search Options to select additional search criteria.
Build a list of schools using My Favorites for side-by-side comparisons.
Pinpoint school locations with an interactive map.
Export search results into a spreadsheet.
Save your session including search options and favorites.

Start Class

Start Class - Find and compare education options for every stage of life.
Research:

Colleges
College Tuition & Expenses
Colleges & Universities
Community Colleges
Engineering Schools
Scholarships

Best Colleges for African Americans

The schools selected for the Best Colleges for African Americans list had the following criteria:

A minimum graduation rate of 40% for African American students;

An African American student population of at least 6.5%; this is half the percentage of the African American population in the U.S.A.
A high graduation rate for African American students compared against ACT score for graduation

Best Colleges for Hispanic Students

Best Colleges for Hispanic Students list includes

Schools with a high concentration of Hispanic students in attendance,
or have a cultural center that focuses on Latino/a, Chicano/a or Hispanic heritage,
schools that ensure that minority students receive the same quality education as non-Hispanic students.

Students with Learning Disabilities

The College Guide for Students with Learning Disabilities

Most colleges have staff to help students with learning disabilities receive the resources and assistance they need to succeed.

A number of accommodations are available, to help students attend classes, complete coursework, and take exams. The College Guide for Students with Learning Disabilities covers some of the most common accommodations.

Evaluate your college investment

College Completion, The Chronicle of Higher Education

The Chronicle of Higher Education, College Completion
Who graduates from college, who doesn't, and why it matters?
Find out graduation rates from colleges you might be interested in
attending. Here's a link to info on 11 Illinois 4-year public colleges.

College Affordability and Transparency Center, U. S. Department of Education

College Affordability and Transparency Center
Which colleges have the highest and lowest tuition and net prices?
How much do career and vocational programs cost?
How fast are college costs going up?
This interactive website has an easy to use interface.

College Scorecard
U. S. Department of Education

College Scorecard
Enter the name of a college to find out about its affordability and value.
Search colleges by degree, major, size of college, occupation, zip code and more.
Generate a college scorecard.