About the Corporate Work Study program

The Corporate Work Study program (a separately incorporated entity) operates like a temporary employment agency within Cristo Rey schools and employs every student five full days a month in an entry-level, professional job all four years of high school. Students earn a majority of their education cost while gaining real-world work experience that strengthens their cognitive and non-cognitive skill development, catalyzes confidence and aspiration, and prepares them for success in college and careers.

More than two decades ago, John P. Foley, S.J. and his team created the Corporate Work Study Program out of financial necessity to ensure Cristo Rey Jesuit High School in Chicago opened as both an academically rigorous and financially sustainable school. The innovative and unconventional model has since developed in a network of 39 Cristo Rey schools that collectively partner with 3,400 Corporate Partners.