Enrollment
1,359
Illinois · 2024-25 NCES data
High school (grades 9-12) · Lake Forest, IL
Lake Forest High School
Federal NCES profile for Lake Forest High School, including enrollment, faculty, free-lunch eligibility, demographics, and resource indicators - Resource Investment Index 65/100.
2024-25 NCES dataHigh school (grades 9-12)NCES 172178002452
👥 S:T ratio 58
📚 AP courses 100
🌟 Gifted program 30
🎓 Counselors 61
📋 Attendance 76
Scored 0–100 from federal NCES and CRDC indicators, resource allocation, not test scores. Full methodology →
The verdict
Lake Forest High School earns 65/100 on the Resource Investment Index, with class sizes smaller than 86% of Illinois schools. It is also one of the largest schools in Illinois.
- #4 of 7
- public schools in Lake Forest · Resource Index
- 65
- Resource Index · Higher
- 10.5:1
- small classes for Illinois
- 1,359
- students enrolled
Lake Forest High School has class sizes smaller than 86% of Illinois schools. Computed live against every Illinois school reporting to NCES.
By Resource Investment Index, Lake Forest High School ranks #4 of 7 public schools in Lake Forest, IL.
School address
District: Lake Forest Chsd 115 · Illinois
NCES ID 172178002452 Verify on NCES CCD record →
Teachers (FTE)
129.0
Federal CCD staff survey
Students per teacher
10.5:1
vs 14:1 Illinois avg
-25% vs state
Student-teacher ratio in context
How Lake Forest High School compares with Illinois and U.S. medians
What stands out at Lake Forest High School
Lake Forest High School is a large high school in Lake Forest, Illinois, enrolling 1,359 students.
Classes run notably small here: at 10.5:1, Lake Forest High School is leaner than roughly 86% of Illinois schools and 25% under the state's 14:1 norm, more adult attention per pupil than most peers.
By headcount it is one of the larger campuses in Illinois, bigger than 96% of state schools at 1,359 students.
Its Resource Investment Index lands in the upper third of 3,845 scored Illinois schools.
Its student body is led by White (76%) and Hispanic or Latino (11%) (diversity index 40/100).
On the academic-pipeline side it reports 20 Advanced Placement courses.
Counselor coverage is strong, about 194 students per counselor, inside the American School Counselor Association's recommended 250:1.
Attendance holds up well here: only 9.7% of students were chronically absent, below the typical post-pandemic national figure.
The surrounding Lake Forest Chsd 115 spends $37,271 per pupil, 119% above the Illinois average, a better-resourced district than most.
Lake Forest Chsd 115 operates only this one school, so Lake Forest High School has no district-mates to compare against locally. At 1,359 students, it is also among the largest single-school districts in Illinois, well beyond the enrollment of a typical standalone charter.
Sourced from NCES CCD, CRDC, and F-33 (federal records, not a quality verdict). How we source and compute this.
Source: National Center for Education Statistics Common Core of Data + CRDC + F-33 · 2024-25
How Lake Forest High School compares
Lake Forest High School on the metrics families compare, against Illinois and U.S. means.
| Metric | This school | vs Illinois | Illinois avg | U.S. avg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Students per teacher | 10.5:1 | ▼ 25% | 14:1 | 15.7:1 |
| Enrollment | 1,359 | top 4% | - | - |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data School-level CCD + state/national means from Public School Universe · 2024-25
10.5:1
Leaner classes than 86% of US schools, among the more generously staffed nationally.
1,359
Bigger than 95% of US schools by enrollment, a large campus nationally.
Equity indicators (what these measure)
Staffing depth
10.5:1
students per teacher
- 25% below state mean
Top 14% in Illinois - lower ratio than 86% of state schools
Well under the widely cited 15:1 individualized-attention benchmark, among the leaner class loads nationally.
Engagement
9.7%
chronically absent (missed 10%+ of school days)
In the 5-10% range, close to the pre-pandemic national baseline.
Funding equity
$37,271
per pupil, district-wide
- above Illinois avg of $17,042
Well above the U.S. public-school average, reflecting substantially higher local or state investment per enrolled student.
Support staff
Counselors7.0 FTE
Per 194 students, the combined health-and-guidance staffing load for this school.
Discipline context
7
in-school suspensions + 1 out-of-school
Suspension rate: 0.5 per 100 students. Combined in-school and out-of-school rate: 0.6 per 100 students. Reported via the Civil Rights Data Collection.
Overview
- Common Core of Data (June 2026): enrollment, staffing, and the student-teacher ratio above.
- Civil Rights Data Collection: discipline counts and program access (AP, gifted, special education).
- F-33 School District Finance Survey: the district-wide per-pupil spending figures below.
Three separate federal collections, each on its own reporting cadence - which is why this school's numbers line up on a consistent basis against every other school and state on this site, rather than mixing figures pulled from different survey years.
Student demographics
White 76.4%
Hispanic or Latino 11.4%
Asian 5.6%
Two or More 5.3%
African American 1.2%
American Indian / Alaska Native 0.1%
Largest group: White at 76.4% of enrollment.
Student-body diversity index 39.7/100
Simpson diversity index - at 39.7, Lake Forest High School is about as mixed as the Illinois school average of 38.9.
Programs
AP courses offered 20
Funding & spending
District-wide per-pupil expenditure for Lake Forest Chsd 115, which includes Lake Forest High School.
$37,271
Per student
+119%
vs Illinois
Avg $17,042
+125%
vs U.S.
Avg $16,593
Revenue mix
Local 76.9%
State 20.5%
Federal 2.7%
Source: NCES F-33 School District Finance Survey District-level finance · FY 2021-22 Per-pupil expenditure reflects the district-wide average. Individual school budgets are not reported at the federal level.
Similar high schools statewide
Matched by enrollment size and by staffing ratio across all of Illinois, not just this city - a different peer set than the local comparisons above.
Similar enrollment (~1,359 students)
Similar student-teacher ratio (~10.5:1)
Next steps
Verify locally before acting on Lake Forest High School's federal record.
- Compare Lake Forest High School against another school. Compare schools
- Lake Forest Chsd 115's spending and staffing shape this school. District profile
- Confirm current enrollment and boundaries with the school. Choosing guide
Federal record (CCD 2024-25, CRDC 2021-22) - PlainSchools assigns no subjective rating; the composite quality score is a transparent, reproducible index computed from this cited federal data.
Frequently asked questions about Lake Forest High School
How many students attend Lake Forest High School?
Lake Forest High School has 1,359 students enrolled. It is a high school in Lake Forest, IL.
What is the student-teacher ratio at Lake Forest High School?
The student-teacher ratio at Lake Forest High School is 10.5:1, which is 25% lower than the Illinois average of 14:1 and 33% lower than the national average of 15.7:1. Lower ratios generally mean more individual attention per student.
What is the racial and ethnic makeup of Lake Forest High School?
The largest demographic group at Lake Forest High School is White at 76.4% of enrollment, in Lake Forest, IL.
What is the Resource Investment Index for Lake Forest High School?
Lake Forest High School has a Resource Investment Index of 65/100 (higher reported resources relative to schools nationally) based on 5 factors: student-teacher ratio, AP course offerings, counselor availability, attendance rates. Not a test-score or academic measure (national median ~41/100, see methodology).
How does Lake Forest High School rank among public schools in Lake Forest?
By Resource Investment Index, Lake Forest High School ranks #4 of 7 public schools in Lake Forest, IL. This compares federal resource and staffing data among local peers; it is not a test-score or academic ranking. See all public schools in Lake Forest on the city page.
Is Lake Forest High School a good school?
Lake Forest High School earns 65/100 on the Resource Investment Index, with class sizes smaller than 86% of Illinois schools. It is also one of the largest schools in Illinois. This is a resource snapshot, not an academic rating; see the Resource Investment Index question above for what the number does and doesn't measure.
What other schools are in Lake Forest Chsd 115?
None reported; Lake Forest Chsd 115 operates only Lake Forest High School as a public school district in NCES's records.
Related tools
Every figure on PlainSchools is rendered directly from the source NCES, CRDC and F-33 federal records, no number is typed in by an editor. Each school's figures reflect its most recent NCES/CRDC submission on file. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of June 2026.