BMO Latino Alliance Scholarship Fund

Cristo Rey Jesuit High School in Chicago's Pilsen neighborhood provides a Jesuit, dual-language, college preparatory education and professional work experience to students from Spanish speaking families with limited financial means.

To make this possible, Cristo Rey pioneered the Corporate Work Study Program (CWSP) model. The CWSP enables students to earn a majority of the cost of their own education by working at a local business or nonprofit agency, including our longtime hiring partners at BMO! In addition to making tuition affordable, the CWSP gives students the real-world work experience to succeed as first-generation college students and beyond.

Student outcomes:

• 100% of students are accepted to college every year
• In the first year of universal SAT testing (replacing the ACT), the seniors earned an average score of 1000, virtually tied with the state average of 1013 for all populations, despite the demographics of our students
• The Class of 2021 submitted over 1,405 college applications and received over 1,000 acceptances to 137 different post-secondary institutions. These graduates received $11,726,000 in financial awards covering 79% of tuition and fees at the schools they plan to attend this year – 86% four-year institutions – with an average out-of-pocket expense of just $1,927.
• Graduates from the Class of 2015 completed college in six years at a rate of 64% – 46% earning a four-year bachelor’s degree and 22% earning two-year degrees – a rate 3.5 times greater than their demographic peers.
• 2,319 bicultural, biliterate alumni serving as leaders throughout Chicagoland and beyond
• 50%+ of CWSP partners hire our alumni after graduation, continuing the pipeline of diverse talent

Though our model offers an innovative solution to making a college preparatory education affordable, many of our families still need additional assistance to send their children to Cristo Rey. Our families, 88% who qualify for free or reduced lunch, with an average income of $40,697, have been heavily impacted by the pandemic, with over half of student households reporting a job loss or other loss of income. As a result, Cristo Rey collected just ~$643,000 in tuition in 2020-2021, an average of just $1,156 per student. To fulfil the remainder of the requested family contribution, Cristo Rey distributed approximately $1M in scholarships and financial aid to the 90% of students requiring additional financial assistance, ensuring that no student ever leaves the school due to an inability to pay.

For the last eight years, BMO's Latino Alliance Scholarship Fund has supported the scholarship fund, giving educational opportunity each year to Cristo Rey students who demonstrate academic excellence, a commitment to service, and whose family experiences financial need. Thank you for continuing to support our students, 96% of whom will be first generation to graduate with a four-year degree.

Please complete the form below to make your contribution, and thank you in advance for your support of Cristo Rey Jesuit High School!