9 charters lead Detroit in open- enrollment schools sending grads on to college

If you’re a high school student in Detroit who's passionate about higher education,  these charter schools could be your perfect route to your university of choice. 

For the second year in a row, MLive has compiled a database of every high school in the state, looking at the percentage of 2018 graduates who enrolled in either a two-year or four-year college upon graduation. The database didn’t just look at college acceptance rates; it looked at the percentage of students from each high school who actually enrolled in college.

The results show that the top nine open-enrollment schools in Detroit are all charter schools.

“This is highly significant, and is one more important metric that shows charter schools are leading the way in Detroit when it comes to preparing high school grads for that critical next step in their education,” said MAPSA President, Dan Quisenberry.

The top 10 open-enrollment high schools in Detroit in terms of college enrollment:

1. Detroit Edison Public School Academy (DEPSA), charter school – 73% of grads enrolled in college
2. University Prep Science and Math High School, charter school – 67%
3. Jalen Rose Leadership Academy, charter school – 61%
4. Universal Academy, charter school – 60%
5. University Preparatory Academy, charter school – 60%
6. Frontier International Academy, charter school – 59%
7. Henry Ford Academy: School for Creative Studies, charter school – 56%
8. Voyageur Academy, charter school – 56%
9. Cornerstone Health and Technology High School, charter school – 55%
10. Detroit School of Arts, traditional public school – 52%

 (NOTE: The four Detroit Public Schools Community District schools that would be in the top 10 are not open-enrollment schools – they’re all selective-enrollment or application schools. All charter schools are open-enrollment schools, meaning you don’t need to meet other criteria to enroll.)

Statewide, the top two open-enrollment schools on the list were also charter schools. Marshall Academy, a charter school in Marshall, saw 92% of its 2018 graduates enroll in college, earning the No. 1 overall state ranking. Close behind at No. 2 is Central Academy, a charter school in Ann Arbor, which saw 91% of its graduates last year enroll in college.