Chance Fund Gives Five Chicago Schools $500,000

Five Chicago high schools will each receive $100,000 over three years to expand career-connected learning in trades and the arts.

Updated on Nov. 2, 2026 in Scholarships

Chance Fund Gives Five Chicago Schools $500,000

Chance the Rapper's New Chance Fund has committed $500,000 to career-connected learning at five Chicago high schools, with each school receiving $100,000 to spend over three years. The grants flow through the nonprofit SocialWorks in partnership with Chicago Public Schools' philanthropic arm.

Why it matters

The grants aim to strengthen the link between classroom lessons and work, giving Chicago students access to skills such as barbering, culinary arts, carpentry and digital media. For families in the city, the funding adds practical training options inside the public high school system.

Each school receives $100,000 over three years, and SocialWorks reports 30 new or renovated career and arts spaces created across the program. The programs' effect on student outcomes has not yet been reported.

The players

Chance the Rapper

Chicago rapper and philanthropist who founded the New Chance Fund to support youth education in his home city.

SocialWorks

Nonprofit organization that administers the New Chance Fund grants and reports program outcomes.

Chicago Public Schools

The nation's third-largest public school district, whose philanthropic arm partners on the grants.

The details

Each school drew up its own spending plan covering equipment, field trips, internships, guest speakers and workshops. At Simeon Career Academy, the money will buy new styling chairs and upgraded workstations for its summer barbering and cosmetology program, which Chance the Rapper visited unannounced before presenting a check.

2017: The New Chance Fund launched and has since supported 55 schools.
Over the next three years: Each school spends its $100,000 grant.
The fourth round focuses on career-connected learning.

Season Trajectory

The fourth round extends the New Chance Fund's grants, which since 2017 have supported 55 schools and more than 27,000 students. The shift toward career-connected learning moves the fund from general school support toward workforce-linked training.

Students at the five recipient schools can ask their counselors about the new barbering, culinary, carpentry and digital media offerings. Families elsewhere in Chicago can check with their own high schools about career-connected programs that may be supported by similar partnerships.

The takeaway

Funding tied to specific trades can give students hands-on experience that classroom instruction alone does not provide. Watching how the five schools use their grants over the next three years will show whether such investments translate into certifications and jobs.