9 of 10 of CHS Grads Went to 4-Year Colleges

More than 90 percent of 2012 graduates from Chatham High School went on to attend four-year colleges, and 84 percent of those students are attending competitive schools, according to Julie Patterson, the high school’s director of school counseling.

Patterson explained during her annual graduate report at the Jan. 28 Board of Education meeting that 260 of the 287 graduates went to four-year-colleges, 18 went to two-year colleges, four are in the military service and one is going to a technical school. The other four went directly into employment, a number she said is high for Chatham High.

Patterson uses Barron’s Profiles of American Colleges to get an idea of the competitive level of schools graduates choose to attend. Eighty-four percent are attending schools rated by the publication as most competitive, highly competitive or very competitive.

“Keep in mind these admission competitive levels are misleading and not always the most important measurement of institutional quality,” Patterson said. “But it’s the best we have in terms of rating schools and programs.”

The school counseling director said only 10 percent of graduates are attending New Jersey colleges, although near three-fourths stayed on the East Coast.

“Most students who sit in our counseling office say ‘Anywhere but New Jersey,’” she said. “Quite frankly, I don’t know why.”