Enrollment
487
Illinois · 2024-25 NCES data
High school (grades 9-12) · Fairbury, IL
Prairie Central High School
Federal NCES profile for Prairie Central High School, including enrollment, faculty, free-lunch eligibility, demographics, and resource indicators - Resource Investment Index 31/100.
2024-25 NCES dataHigh school (grades 9-12)NCES 170000505126
👥 S:T ratio 54
📚 AP courses 20
🌟 Gifted program 30
🎓 Counselors 51
📋 Attendance 0
Scored 0–100 from federal NCES and CRDC indicators, resource allocation, not test scores. Full methodology →
The verdict
Prairie Central High School earns 31/100 on the Resource Investment Index, even as it posts class sizes smaller than 76% of Illinois schools.
- 31
- Resource Index · Lower
- 11.6:1
- small classes for Illinois
- 487
- students enrolled
Prairie Central High School has class sizes smaller than 76% of Illinois schools. Computed live against every Illinois school reporting to NCES.
School address
District: Prairie Central Cusd 8 · Illinois
NCES ID 170000505126 Verify on NCES CCD record →
Teachers (FTE)
42.0
Federal CCD staff survey
Students per teacher
11.6:1
vs 14:1 Illinois avg
-17% vs state
Student-teacher ratio in context
How Prairie Central High School compares with Illinois and U.S. medians
What stands out at Prairie Central High School
Prairie Central High School is a mid-sized high school in Fairbury, Illinois, enrolling 487 students.
Class sizes run a bit leaner than typical: 11.6:1 puts it in the smaller third of Illinois schools by student-teacher ratio.
Enrollment of 487 puts it in the larger third of Illinois schools by headcount.
Its Resource Investment Index lands in the lower third of 3,845 scored Illinois schools.
Its student body is predominantly White (83% of enrollment) (diversity index 30/100).
On the academic-pipeline side it reports 4 Advanced Placement courses.
Counselor coverage is strong, about 244 students per counselor, inside the American School Counselor Association's recommended 250:1.
Chronic absenteeism is elevated: 43.9% of students missed 10% or more of school days (2021-22 Civil Rights Data Collection).
The federal civil-rights collection also records 2 expulsions at this campus for 2021-22.
Prairie Central Cusd 8 also operates Prairie Central Elem School (367 students) and Prairie Central Jr High School (250 students) alongside Prairie Central High School.
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 Prairie Central High School compares
Prairie Central 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 | 11.6:1 | ▼ 17% | 14:1 | 15.7:1 |
| Enrollment | 487 | top 32% | - | - |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data School-level CCD + state/national means from Public School Universe · 2024-25
11.6:1
Leaner classes than 79% of US schools, among the more generously staffed nationally.
487
Bigger than 60% of US schools by enrollment, mid-sized for the country.
Equity indicators (what these measure)
Staffing depth
11.6:1
students per teacher
- 17% below state mean
Top 24% in Illinois - lower ratio than 76% of state schools
Well under the widely cited 15:1 individualized-attention benchmark, among the leaner class loads nationally.
Engagement
43.9%
chronically absent (missed 10%+ of school days)
At or above 20%, the commonly used threshold for "high" chronic absenteeism, signaling significant barriers to regular attendance.
Funding equity
$15,141
per pupil, district-wide
- below Illinois avg of $17,042
Somewhat below the U.S. average per-pupil spend; funding constraints may affect programs, facilities, and staffing.
Support staff
Counselors2.0 FTE
Per 244 students, the combined health-and-guidance staffing load for this school.
Discipline context
52
in-school suspensions + 14 out-of-school
Suspension rate: 10.7 per 100 students. Combined in-school and out-of-school rate: 13.6 per 100 students. Reported via the Civil Rights Data Collection. Includes 2 expulsions.
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 82.5%
Hispanic or Latino 12.3%
Two or More 3.1%
African American 1.0%
Asian 0.8%
American Indian / Alaska Native 0.2%
Largest group: White at 82.5% of enrollment.
Student-body diversity index 30.3/100
Simpson diversity index - at 30.3, Prairie Central High School is less mixed than the Illinois school average of 38.9.
Programs
AP courses offered 4
Funding & spending
District-wide per-pupil expenditure for Prairie Central Cusd 8, which includes Prairie Central High School.
$15,141
Per student
-11%
vs Illinois
Avg $17,042
-9%
vs U.S.
Avg $16,593
Revenue mix
Local 55.1%
State 37.6%
Federal 7.3%
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.
How Prairie Central High School Compares to District-Mates
| School | Enrollment | Economic Profile | Student-Teacher Ratio |
|---|---|---|---|
| Prairie Central Elem School | Similar size | No free-lunch data | Similar S:T ratio |
| Prairie Central Jr High School | Smaller | No free-lunch data | Similar S:T ratio |
| Prairie Central Primary West | Smaller | No free-lunch data | Higher S:T ratio |
| Prairie Central Upper Elementary | Smaller | No free-lunch data | Similar S:T ratio |
| Prairie Central Primary East | Smaller | No free-lunch data | Similar S:T ratio |
Comparisons are relative to Prairie Central High School's own figures; each column derives from NCES Common Core of Data.
Other Schools in This District
- Enrollment
- 367
- Students per teacher
- 12.7:1
- Resource Index
- 38/100
- Enrollment
- 250
- Students per teacher
- 12.5:1
- Resource Index
- 30/100
- Enrollment
- 244
- Students per teacher
- 15.3:1
- Resource Index
- 39/100
- Enrollment
- 216
- Students per teacher
- 10.3:1
- Resource Index
- 37/100
- Enrollment
- 148
- Students per teacher
- 12.3:1
- Resource Index
- 41/100
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 (~487 students)
Similar student-teacher ratio (~11.6:1)
Next steps
Verify locally before acting on Prairie Central High School's federal record.
- Compare Prairie Central High School against another school. Compare schools
- Prairie Central Cusd 8'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 Prairie Central High School
How many students attend Prairie Central High School?
Prairie Central High School has 487 students enrolled. It is a high school in Fairbury, IL.
What is the student-teacher ratio at Prairie Central High School?
The student-teacher ratio at Prairie Central High School is 11.6:1, which is 17% lower than the Illinois average of 14:1 and 26% 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 Prairie Central High School?
The largest demographic group at Prairie Central High School is White at 82.5% of enrollment, in Fairbury, IL.
What is the Resource Investment Index for Prairie Central High School?
Prairie Central High School has a Resource Investment Index of 31/100 (lower 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).
Is Prairie Central High School a good school?
Prairie Central High School earns 31/100 on the Resource Investment Index, even as it posts class sizes smaller than 76% of Illinois schools. 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 Prairie Central Cusd 8?
Besides Prairie Central High School, Prairie Central Cusd 8 also operates Prairie Central Elem School (367 students), Prairie Central Jr High School (250 students), and Prairie Central Primary West (244 students). See the Prairie Central Cusd 8 district page for the complete list.
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.