Maine South High School

📋 At a glance

Composed from federal CRDC offerings, EDFacts ACGR, and other public data. Full breakdowns below.

Among the nation's most academically rigorous high schools.

• ▸ StatewideAP rigor sits in the top 3.7% of US high schools with 29 AP courses.
• ▸ LocallyIL sits right at the US average on NAEP 8th-grade math — local school quality will set your kid apart.
• ▸ vs Similar SchoolsThe closest comparables nearby: Niles West High School, Maine East High School, Maine West High School and 5 more. See the sidebar to compare side-by-side.

🎓 Academic rigor

AP + advanced-course offerings

Elite — exceptional AP + advanced course breadth

Top 3.7% of US high schools

Source: federal Civil Rights Data Collection (CRDC 2020-21). CRDC reports what's offered + enrolled — it doesn't collect AP exam pass rates (College Board owns that data and doesn't release it school-level).

👩‍🏫 Teacher workforce · federal CRDC

Teacher experience & reliability

Source: federal Civil Rights Data Collection (CRDC 2017-18 — the most recent vintage that publishes per-school teacher quality fields; the 2020-21 sweep had them suppressed). "Inexperienced" = teachers in their first or second year. "Chronic absence" = teachers absent 10+ days/year.

🏛️ Your state's public flagship

University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

The in-state tuition gap is the flagship's biggest draw — most in-state families pay far less than the out-of-state sticker. Average net price after aid runs about $14,355/yr. Admission odds depend on your student's GPA and test scores, not which high school they attend.

Source: IPEDS admissions, tuition & enrollment + College Scorecard net price. Flagship = the state's primary public research university.

Chronic absenteeism

Why this matters to enrollment: Chronic absence is the strongest early indicator of dropout, transfer-out, and family disengagement. A school's absenteeism trend forecasts its enrollment trend 1-3 years out. For school leaders: an Enrollment Trend Audit traces this dynamic forward →

Source: U.S. Department of Education, Civil Rights Data Collection 2020–2021. Rate = students chronically absent ÷ 2024 total enrollment.

Counselor capacity

Source: U.S. Department of Education, Civil Rights Data Collection 2020-2021. Counselor ratio = the school's most recent total enrollment ÷ counselor FTE. The American School Counselor Association (ASCA) recommends a 250:1 maximum; the US national median across schools with on-staff counselors is roughly 430:1.

Enrollment trend & projection

Total enrollment + grade 12, NCES Common Core of Data (2021–2024).

If the recent trend holds…

At its recent rate of +0.5%/year, projecting from 2024's 2,494 students:

An extrapolation of the recent trajectory, not a forecast of the school's plans; ignores one-off shocks.

Revenue upside

At $35,510 per student in district revenue, the 59 students projected to be gained by 2029 represent ≈ $2,095,090/year in additional funding.

District total revenue ÷ enrollment, NCES F-33. Public funding largely follows enrollment, so a shrinking class is a recurring budget hit.

Most similar nearby high schools

The schools most like this one — same type, blended on distance and size — and where their enrollment is heading. These are the schools families here weigh against each other.