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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 13, 2018
CONTACT: Cody Rogers (312) 884-1389, press@noblenetwork.org
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2,500 High School Students, 171 Colleges Gather for 10th Annual Noble College Fair
CHICAGO, IL – On Thursday, thousands of public high school juniors from the Noble Network of Charter Schools joined admissions representatives from 171 colleges and universities from around the nation for Noble's 10th annual college fair. Held at the UIC Pavilion, the event kickstarts the college application process for Noble's junior class, of which over 95 percent are expected to be accepted into four-year undergraduate programs based on Noble students' track record of college success.
Noble students and college admissions representatives fill the UIC Pavilion on April 12th, 2018.
The 2,500 Noble students arrived by bus from their respective campuses, then immediately set out to explore the full array of colleges and universities stationed around the UIC Pavilion. Areas that students visited included the “Honors Concourse,” featuring Ivy League schools plus the University of Chicago and Northwestern University, and the “Chicago Concourse," which exclusively hosted public and private universities located within the city. On the floor of the Pavilion, representatives from more than 100 additional colleges and universities filled the entire space.
Estefany Valentine, a student from Rowe Clark Math & Science Academy on Chicago's West Side, marveled at the wide variety of college options. "I got to know a lot of information about colleges that I didn’t know about, and I got to ask the questions that I’ve been dying to ask for awhile now," she stated. "It was a great experience just to know more about the different colleges out there - the public ones, the private ones, the small ones, and the big ones. Overall it was a really great experience and I’m really thankful for it."
Noble's focus on college seeks to lift up communities across Chicago that have been historically underserved, to empower its thousands of students with the knowledge that college can be a reality for them and their families. A full college prep curriculum begins for every Noble student from the first day of freshman year, and culminates for each student nearly four years later, when almost every single Noble senior receives acceptance to an undergraduate program.
Noble students learn about Fisk University, a Historically Black College & University (HBCU) and one of 171 higher education institutions recruiting Noble students on April 12, 2018.
"This college fair really represents everything we try to do," said Eric Rapp, Noble's Director of College Partnerships. "In this room right now we have thousands of Chicago high school students united in their knowledge that admission to college is not just an idea, it's real. And not only do they learn that college is going to happen for them in a general sense, they also get to see the variety of choices for higher education that exist, so that they and their families can find the schools and programs that best help them live their college dreams."
Christopher Watson, a student from Butler College Prep on Chicago's South Side, agreed. "My favorite part is just the opportunity to see all of these colleges," he said. "There are a bunch of colleges that I didn’t know about that are offering good tuition and good scholarships that I’m interested in. A bunch of new majors that I didn’t know about that I’m now interested in and want to do research on."
Every year, over 97 percent of Noble graduates are accepted into four-year colleges. This year, Noble students submitted 26,600 college applications and received over 13,600 acceptances.
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