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Cowden, Illinois - 2 schools
An equity score of 61/100 ranks Cowden-Herrick Cusd 3a #14 of 763 districts in Illinois (state average 38). Derived live from how evenly resources are distributed across the district's schools.
At $16,782 per pupil, Cowden-Herrick Cusd 3a ranks #365 of 848 Illinois districts by per-pupil spending (Illinois districts). NCES F-33 finance data.
322
Total Enrollment
2
Schools
$16,782
Per-Pupil Spending
Elementary, Combined
School Types
District-Level NCES Analysis
Cowden-Herrick Cusd 3a operates 2 public schools serving 322 students, placing it among the smallest districts in Illinois. The school portfolio breaks down into 1 elementary, 1 combined schools, a small enough portfolio that most families will interact with nearly every campus in the district at some point. These enrollment and school figures come from the NCES Common Core of Data (CCD) 2024-25 release, and the district is based in Shelby County.
Per-pupil expenditure runs $16,782 according to the NCES F-33 School District Finance Survey, in the upper half of 848 Illinois districts by per-pupil spending. See how Illinois compares in our national per-pupil spending analysis. The funding mix is 26.4% local, 54.4% state, and 19.2% federal, a state-revenue-heavy mix that insulates the district somewhat from local property-tax volatility, though it ties funding to state budget cycles. The district's equity score is 61/100, ranked #14 of 763 in Illinois against a state average of 38, notably more even than the typical district in the state for how evenly funding reaches its schools.
a 171.5:1 student-counselor ratio, that meets the ASCA-recommended benchmark, and 14.8% chronic absenteeism from the 2021-22 Civil Rights Data Collection. Demographically, the student body averages 97.7% White, 1.1% African American, 0.3% Asian across the district's schools.
Its largest campus is Cowden-Herrick Grade School, enrolling 175 students (51% of the district's total enrollment).
Cowden-Herrick Grade School accounts for 51.0% of all Cowden-Herrick Cusd 3a student enrollment
That is an overwhelming concentration, leaving the rest of Cowden-Herrick Cusd 3a a distant remainder — means Cowden-Herrick Cusd 3a-wide averages can mask substantial variation outside the dominant entity. Grade band: elementary. A single dominant campus often anchors a district's program offerings and staffing patterns; the share helps explain why district-wide averages may not reflect the typical neighbourhood-school experience. When one entity dominates a region's footprint, its programmatic and budget decisions effectively set policy for a majority of the affected population.
Cowden-Herrick Cusd 3a student-counselor ratio is 172:1 — low (typically associated with meeting or exceeding the American School Counselor Association (ASCA) recommended 250:1 benchmark, which correlates with stronger college and career counseling capacity)
student-counselor ratio is the simplest comparative metric but it does not capture the full picture: the ratio counts FTE counselors against total enrollment, districts that contract intervention or social-emotional staff outside the counselor classification may be under-counted Lower values often correlate with smaller scale and population characteristics rather than higher resource budgets per se.
Cowden-Herrick Cusd 3a chronic absenteeism rate is 14.8% — low (typically associated with lower-than-average attendance disruption; districts in this range often have attendance interventions, robust transportation, or smaller catchments that reduce barriers)
chronic absenteeism rate is the simplest comparative metric but it does not capture the full picture: a student is chronically absent if they miss ≥10% of enrolled days for any reason, illness, family obligations, or disengagement Lower values often correlate with smaller scale and population characteristics rather than higher resource budgets per se.