The Corporate Work Study Program

The Corporate Work Study Program at Cristo Rey Jesuit High School and Christ the King Jesuit College Prep partners with Chicago business to fill one or more full-time entry-level jobs. These two private, Catholic, Jesuit college prep high schools exclusively serve students and families with limited economic resources in Chicago’s Pilsen and Austin neighborhoods. Businesses contract with the Program to outsource their clerical jobs for an annual fee. The fee is a business expense, not a donation. Student-workers are then put into job-sharing teams and their academic schedules are modified so that four students job share a full-time entry level job without missing class. The Corporate Work Study Program is the students’ employer, handling all payroll, Workers’ Comp, taxes, Department of Labor and other employment issues. The CWSP began in 1996 at Cristo Rey. The CWSP model is also now being used successfully by twenty-two other schools around the country