The Archdiocese of Chicago and the Big Shoulders Fund have announced a joint commitment of $92.4 million over ten years in support of Catholic education in Chicago.

The funding, which includes $47.5 million from the Big Shoulders Fund and $44.9 million from the archdiocese, will support thirty Catholic schools in Chicago, with a focus on the city's South and West Sides, and the fifty-six hundred children they serve. Effective immediately, the Big Shoulders Fund will assume a leadership role in helping school principals manage toward a more sustainable future, while its investment will enable the schools to continue serving students and families and will help stabilize the archdiocese's annual operating aid for the schools.

"For generations these schools have prepared students for college, career, and life. Alumni go on to study, work, volunteer, and donate at rates higher than their peers," said Big Shoulders Fund president and CEO Josh Hale. "But, even more, this investment by our supporters is about strengthening neighborhoods that are enriched by these community-based organizations remaining places of hope and reasons to stay in the city."