District Spotlight
Four Districts, 15 Years, No Growth
Four Illinois districts declined for 15 consecutive years, the longest streaks in the state. All four finally broke in 2023-2025, but three have already resumed losing students.
Illinois Education News & Data
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Demographics
White enrollment fell by 126,000 as Illinois schools grew more diverse
White students account for 92% of Illinois's enrollment decline. The south and southwest suburbs are transforming fastest.
Geographic
Cook County Gains Students for the First Time in a Decade
Cook County posted back-to-back enrollment gains after losing 111,000 students. English learner growth is the engine. The rest of Illinois kept falling.
Special Populations
Joliet's English learner population tripled in six years
Suburban Chicago HSDs built for monolingual instruction are absorbing triple-digit EL growth. Joliet 204 went from 494 to 1,642 English learners.
Enrollment
Illinois enrollment falls below 1997 levels after a decade of unbroken decline
Illinois has lost 229,000 students since its 2007 peak. Four in five large districts are shrinking. The outer suburbs are the only exception.
Equity
One in Two Illinois Students Is Economically Disadvantaged
Nearly half of Illinois public school students are economically disadvantaged. The rate gap between the richest and poorest districts spans 98 points.
District Spotlight
Yorkville More Than Doubled in Two Decades. In 2025-26, Only Its High School Grew.
Yorkville CUSD 115 grew 128% from 2004-05 to 2024-25 while most Illinois districts shrank. In 2025-26 it lost 74 students as K-5 fell and the high school grew, ahead of a Nov. 3 school vote.
Enrollment
307 Illinois Districts Have Never Been Smaller
307 of 860 trackable Illinois districts are at all-time enrollment lows, outnumbering those at record highs by 6 to 1. The biggest districts are hit hardest.
Special Populations
Illinois lost 2,730 students. Without EL growth, it would have lost 22,616.
The smallest enrollment decline in 17 years masks a deeper split: non-EL enrollment is still falling by 30,000 a year while English learner growth papers over the gap.
Demographics
Chicago lost 49,522 Black students in 12 years
Black enrollment in Illinois fell 16.7% since 2013, with Chicago Public Schools accounting for more than four-fifths of the decline.
District Spotlight
CPS Gains 3,278 Students. It Is Still Missing 88,000.
Back-to-back enrollment gains at CPS are driven almost entirely by English learner growth. The district remains 21% below its 2005 level.
Enrollment
Illinois enrollment nears a plateau after losing 136,000 students
Illinois lost 135,959 students in six years but the decline is decelerating. English learners grew by 83,371 even as overall enrollment fell.
Enrollment
Illinois Publishes 2024-25 Enrollment Data
ISBE releases 2024-25 enrollment data showing 1,848,560 students — a ninth consecutive year of decline and the state's lowest enrollment in two decades.