Since 1911, City Colleges of Chicago has been connecting students from across Chicago’s neighborhoods to economic opportunity. By offering a quality education at an unprecedented value, City Colleges provides our students and alumni with a pathway to upward mobility.
In fact, our vision is to be recognized as the city’s most accessible higher education engine of socioeconomic mobility and racial equity—empowering all Chicagoans to take part in building a stronger and more just city.
City Colleges graduates can be found working across Chicago—from the city’s biggest hospitals to its boardrooms, from its high-tech manufacturing plants to its classrooms. They can be found serving the community as government officials, law enforcement officers, and teachers, and they are found launching their own businesses and taking leadership roles in the city’s fastest-growing sectors.
More than sixty thousand Chicagoans are enrolled in City Colleges’ educational programs. Our offerings range from tuition-free English as a second language (ESL) and high school diploma (GED/HiSET) preparation classes to certificate and associate degree programs that prepare students to secure employment in high-demand careers and transfer to four-year colleges. In fact, about half of City Colleges graduates transfer after completion, with many heading to nationally-recognized colleges and universities.
Hailing from every neighborhood, City Colleges students are as diverse as the city itself. As Illinois’ largest community college system, City Colleges is comprised of seven independently-accredited colleges: Harold Washington College, Harry S Truman College, Kennedy-King College, Malcolm X College, Olive-Harvey College, Richard J. Daley College, and Wilbur Wright College, and five satellite sites: Arturo Velasquez Institute, Dawson Technical Institute, South Chicago Learning Center, West Side Learning Center, and Wright College Humboldt Park. The City Colleges system also includes the award-winning Washburne Culinary & Hospitality Institute, Sikia Restaurant, Child Development Centers, and radio station WKKC–FM 89.3.