To meet the needs of chronically failing urban schools, elevating the quality of teachers must begin at the new-teacher preparation level.

AUSL has been transforming underperforming schools in Chicago since 2001. Our powerfully prepared teachers are a pipeline of urban talent transforming Chicago’s most failed schools.

AUSL is one of only three not-for-profit Urban Teacher Residency (UTR) programs in the country. Our program design consists of a full-year campus-based residency in a CPS classroom that includes training, education, certification, and mentorship. AUSL provides a training salary of $32,000 to each Resident during the residency year. University tuition of approximately $11,000 is still due NLU and UIC. Residents can apply for financial aid from their university.

The statistics at the end of the first five years of our residency program are impressive:

191 new teachers, who

serve more than 5,000 low-income Chicago Public School children, while

maintaining a 91% retention rate of AUSL program graduates.

AUSL offers a variety of opportunities for its graduates, along with continuing support in the field. It is our goal that our exceptional teachers will continue to advance in their fields to become exceptional school leaders.