City Colleges of Chicago-Harold Washington College

Chicago, IL · Public · 4,207 undergrads · website ↗

48% Hispanic undergrads
No application fee
Open admission

Does anyone get out?

The point of starting here is finishing somewhere else. This is how often that happens.

Not published

This college doesn't report a transfer rate to the Department of Education. That means unknown — not zero. Ask them directly.

Completed after transferring: 1.5%
Still enrolled after transferring: 5.2%

What it costs

Household income	Avg net price / year
Under $30,000	$6,911
$30,000 – $48,000	$6,728
$48,000 – $75,000	$9,347
$75,000 – $110,000	$9,922
Over $110,000	$11,657
All incomes (average)	$7,397

Sticker tuition and fees: $4,590 in-state — before aid, from the same earlier College Scorecard release as the net prices above.

These are averages. For an estimate for your family, use City Colleges of Chicago-Harold Washington College's own net price calculator — every college that takes federal student aid must publish one.

Net price calculator ↗

Other costs of attendance, 2025–26

The college's own estimate for a full-time undergraduate for the year, before aid, from the October 2026 College Scorecard. It is a newer year than the tuition and net prices above, so don't add the two together.

Housing and meals, off campus (not with family)	$8,448
Books and supplies	$2,010
Other expenses, off campus	$5,568

Grants and loans for first-year students, 2022–23

What the college reported for its full-time, first-time students (560 of them) in 2022–23; 80% got some kind of aid, loans included. Each average is over the students who received that kind of aid, not over everyone. It is an older year than the 2025–26 costs above.

Type of aid	Students awarded	Average amount
Any grant or scholarshipFederal, state, local and the college's own	79%	$6,316
Federal Pell GrantNeed-based, from the federal government	66%	$5,218
The college's own grants and scholarshipsNeed- or merit-based, funded by the college	19%	$2,069
Federal student loansBorrowed by the student; repaid with interest. No Parent PLUS or private loans	2%	$5,150

IPEDS, U.S. Department of Education, Student Financial Aid 2022–23 (SFA2223, provisional release); full-time, first-time degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates; public domain.

Outcomes

Completion rate: 26%
Students with Pell grants: 36%
Earnings @ 10yr: $36,531
Median debt: $5,750

Admission and teaching

SAT/ACT policy: Open admission
Application fee: None
Students per faculty member: 20 to 1
Faculty who are full-time: 32%

What the college considers in admission decisions, fall 2023

Not reported (open admission).

IPEDS, U.S. Department of Education, Admissions 2023–24 (ADM2023, provisional release), fall 2023; open admission from IPEDS Institutional Characteristics 2023–24 (revised); public domain.

What students study

Business9%

Computer Science1%

Visual & Performing Arts1%

Engineering1%

Architecture1%

Communications & Media0%

Education0%

Criminal Justice0%

Earnings and debt by field of study

Median annual earnings of graduates who received federal student aid and were working, not studying: one year after completing (graduates of 2020–21 and 2021–22) and four years after (2017–18 and 2018–19), measured in 2022 and 2023 and shown in 2024 dollars. Median debt is federal Direct and Grad PLUS loans borrowed at this college by 2022–23 and 2023–24 graduates; it leaves out Parent PLUS and private loans. “National” is the median for the same field and credential across all US colleges.

Associate degrees (2)

Field of study	Degrees awarded 2023–24	Earnings, 1 yr after	Earnings, 4 yrs after	Median federal debt
Liberal Arts and Sciences, General Studies and Humanities	663	$36,822	$44,635national $44,125	$6,500
Biological and Physical Sciences	143	$35,767	$51,025national $50,181	—

Undergraduate certificates (1)

Field of study	Degrees awarded 2023–24	Earnings, 1 yr after	Earnings, 4 yrs after	Median federal debt
Human Development, Family Studies, and Related Services	67	$51,399	—national $31,135	—

A dash means the Department of Education suppressed the figure because too few graduates were measured — not zero. 37 more programmes at this college have every figure suppressed and are not listed.

Contact and accreditation

Address: 30 E Lake Street, Chicago, IL 60601-2449
Phone: (312) 553-5600
Institutional accreditor: Higher Learning Commission

Where would you transfer to?

Find four-year colleges ranked by what they'd cost your family and what graduates earn — then check which of your credits they accept before you commit.

Find four-year matches →

Source: U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard. College Scorecard, October 2026 release: net price calculator link, mission flags and religious affiliation (2025–26), enrolment shares, test policy, SAT/ACT ranges and student-to-faculty ratio (fall 2024), cost-of-attendance components (2025–26), and earnings and debt by field of study. IPEDS Institutional Characteristics 2023–24 for the application fee and the IPEDS 2024 directory for the phone number. IPEDS Admissions 2023–24 (ADM2023, provisional release) for admission requirements and first-time applicants, admits and enrolments (fall 2023). IPEDS Student Financial Aid 2022–23 (SFA2223, provisional release) for grants and loans to full-time, first-time students. All are U.S. Department of Education data in the public domain. Transfer rate is the share of entrants transferring to a four-year institution; it is published for roughly a third of community colleges, and a blank means unpublished rather than zero. Which specific credits transfer is set by agreements between individual institutions and is not published nationally — confirm with both colleges before enrolling.

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