Case Study: Cristo Rey Jesuit High School achieves a 100% college acceptance rate with Naviance by PowerSchool

Cristo Rey Jesuit High School Achieves a 100% College Acceptance Rate

Cristo Rey Jesuit High School, part of a 35-school college-preparatory network in Baltimore, serves students from economically disadvantaged households and aims to make college attainable for all. The school confronts significant local barriers — high poverty, low academic proficiency (13% proficient in reading and 11% in math for Baltimore eighth graders), and historically low college attainment among low-income students.

By implementing Naviance by PowerSchool and a counseling model that begins in ninth grade, CRJ tracks students’ progress (using National Student Clearinghouse data), provides targeted college and financial-aid guidance, and supplements learning with a corporate work-study and summer pre-college programs. The results are striking: 100% college acceptance since its first graduating class in 2011, an average 91% college enrollment within one year, 81% persistence into year two, a college completion rate more than three times that of similar students (about 36% finish a degree), and substantial scholarship support ($1.14M in merit awards and $700k in need-based grants for the class of 2018).

Cristo Rey Jesuit High School

Bill Heiser

President