National Directory / IL
Best Catholic high schools in Illinois
There is no official ranking of Illinois' Catholic high schools, so this page is built like a family would build it: a statewide shortlist of the schools families most often choose, grouped by the regions families actually shop in — Chicago, the North Shore and northern suburbs, the west suburbs, the south suburbs and Will County, Aurora, central Illinois, and the south. All 58 schools in the directory are listed below with NCES 2023–24 enrollment and grade data, and every school with a source-reviewed HSPT guide is linked from the HSPT section.
Families applying in Illinois can take the free HSPT practice test first, then use the city lists below to compare schools that actually require the exam.
Illinois is one of the strongest Catholic high school states in the country: 58 NCES-listed Catholic schools serving high-school grades sit across 39 cities, anchored by the Archdiocese of Chicago — the largest Catholic school system in the United States — with 29 of those schools in the archdiocese's six-county footprint and 16 in the city of Chicago alone. The choice a family actually faces is almost always local: a Chicago family comparing St. Ignatius, DePaul Prep, Mother McAuley, and Resurrection, a North Shore family weighing Loyola Academy against Regina Dominican, a south-suburban family looking at Marian Catholic, St. Laurence, and Providence, or an Aurora family choosing among Marmion, Rosary, and Aurora Central. Six Catholic dioceses cover the state — Chicago, Joliet, Peoria, Rockford, Springfield, and Belleville — and each school runs its own admissions office.
What separates one Illinois Catholic high school from another is rarely the basics. It is school identity and religious order (Jesuit, Lasallian, Dominican, Augustinian, Benedictine, Vincentian, Sacred Heart, Viatorian), single-gender versus coed — Illinois has a strong single-sex set: all-boys Brother Rice, Mount Carmel, St. Rita, Leo, St. Laurence, Marmion, and Notre Dame de La Salette, and all-girls Mother McAuley, Resurrection, Trinity, Josephinum, Regina Dominican, Rosary, and The Willows Academy — enrollment size, entrance-exam policy, and how tuition and aid actually work. The best-of section below names the schools Illinois families most often shortlist, region by region, and the region-by-region directory keeps every school visible so you can build a short list on fit, then compare admissions details. The Archdiocese of Chicago school directory covers the archdiocesan set, and the Chicago & the HSPT guide covers the metro's testing picture.
Best Catholic high schools in Illinois
There is no official ranking of Illinois' Catholic high schools — Niche and Private School Review publish lists that reshuffle yearly and often mix elementary and high school, and no single school or diocese owns a statewide 'best.' What families actually compare is fit: where the school is, whether it is single-gender or coed, how big it is, what it offers academically and athletically, what its identity and religious order mean day to day, and what tuition and aid look like. These are the schools our directory data and live search results show Illinois families shortlisting most, grouped by region.
How we ranked these schools
- Location and commute — Illinois families choose within their region first; the groups below follow the state's real markets (Chicago, the North Shore, the west suburbs, the south suburbs and Will County, Aurora, central Illinois, and the south).
- Single-gender versus coed — Illinois has a notable single-sex set: all-boys Brother Rice, Mount Carmel, St. Rita, Leo, St. Laurence, Marmion, and Notre Dame de La Salette; all-girls Mother McAuley, Resurrection, Trinity, Josephinum, Regina Dominican, Rosary, and The Willows Academy.
- School size and grade structure — from Chesterton Academy in Volo at about 46 students to Loyola Academy at about 1,947, with a few PK-12 systems (Bishop McNamara, Schlarman, Marquette Academy) where the high school is one application.
- Identity and religious order — Jesuit (St. Ignatius, Loyola, Christ the King, Cristo Rey), Lasallian (De La Salle, Marian Catholic), Dominican (Fenwick, Regina Dominican, Rosary), Augustinian (St. Rita, Mount Carmel), Benedictine (Marmion), Vincentian (DePaul Prep), and Sacred Heart (Josephinum, Willows) schools each carry a different formation and community culture.
- Academics, programs, and outcomes — AP and dual-credit offerings, arts, athletics, and college placement; ask each school for its own profile rather than relying on a single ranking.
- Tuition and financial aid — tuition varies widely across the state, most schools run aid, Chicago families have programs like the Big Shoulders Fund, and HSPT scores sometimes factor into merit scholarship consideration. The directory does not publish tuition; link out to each school's admissions page for current figures.
Chicago's most-shortlisted high schools
Chicago's 16 Catholic high schools in this directory are the state's biggest concentration. The ten families shortlist most are St. Ignatius College Prep and DePaul Prep at the top of the list, the all-girls trio of Mother McAuley, Resurrection, and Trinity, Cristo Rey Jesuit's work-study model, and the all-boys set of Mount Carmel, Brother Rice, St. Rita, and Leo. See the Best Catholic high schools in Chicago page for the ranked city list with admissions context.
North Shore and northern suburbs standouts
Wilmette's Loyola Academy is the largest Catholic high school in Illinois — about 1,947 students and the largest Jesuit high school in the country — and anchors a region that also includes all-girls Regina Dominican in Wilmette, Northridge Prep in Niles, The Willows Academy in Des Plaines, Cristo Rey St. Martin in Waukegan, Marian Central in Woodstock, and Chesterton Academy in Volo. Carmel Catholic in Mundelein and Notre Dame College Prep in Niles are not yet in this NCES-based directory — check the Archdiocese of Chicago's high school page for the complete list.
West suburban standouts
Oak Park's Fenwick High School is the west-suburban anchor at about 1,024 students, joined by Nazareth Academy in La Grange Park, IC Catholic Prep in Elmhurst, and St. Francis in Wheaton. Benet Academy in Lisle and St. Viator in Arlington Heights are well-known west-suburban schools that are not yet in this NCES-based directory — use the Archdiocese of Chicago's high school page for the complete list.
South suburbs and Will County standouts
Marian Catholic in Chicago Heights (about 797 students, Lasallian), all-boys St. Laurence in Burbank, Providence Catholic in New Lenox, and Joliet Catholic Academy in Joliet serve the south suburbs and Will County, where the Diocese of Joliet covers the county's Catholic schools.
Aurora and Kane County standouts
Aurora's Catholic high schools sit in the Diocese of Rockford: all-boys Benedictine Marmion Academy, all-girls Rosary High School, and coed Aurora Central Catholic, with St. Edward Central Catholic in Elgin. See the Aurora city page for the local list.
Central Illinois standouts
Across central Illinois the choice is usually one school per city: Bishop McNamara in Kankakee (about 886 students), Boylan in Rockford, Peoria Notre Dame, Sacred Heart-Griffin in Springfield, Central Catholic in Bloomington, and St. Thomas More in Champaign anchor the region, with single-school towns like Ottawa, Peru, Danville, Decatur, Effingham, Jacksonville, Sterling, Freeport, and Rock Island filling out the list.
Southern Illinois standouts
The Diocese of Belleville covers the state's southern tier: Althoff Catholic in Belleville — whose Affordable Tuition page is the authoritative source for current Althoff tuition and aid figures — Marquette Catholic in Alton, Mater Dei in Breese, Father McGivney in Glen Carbon, and Gibault Catholic in Waterloo. See the Belleville city page for the local list.
All-girls and all-boys Catholic high schools in Illinois
Families looking for single-gender education have real choices in Illinois. The all-girls schools are Mother McAuley, Resurrection, Trinity, and Josephinum in Chicago, Regina Dominican in Wilmette, Rosary in Aurora, and The Willows Academy in Des Plaines. The all-boys schools are Brother Rice, Mount Carmel, St. Rita, and Leo in Chicago, St. Laurence in Burbank, Marmion in Aurora, and Notre Dame de La Salette in Georgetown.
There is no official ranking — these are the schools Illinois families most often shortlist, grouped so you can compare within commuting distance. A note on coverage: several marquee Chicago-area schools are not yet in this NCES-based directory — Marist and St. Patrick in Chicago, Notre Dame College Prep in Niles, Carmel Catholic in Mundelein, Benet Academy in Lisle, and St. Viator in Arlington Heights. The Archdiocese of Chicago's Catholic high schools page and High School Search list the complete archdiocesan set.
Catholic high schools in Illinois at a glance
- Schools
- 58 serving high-school grades
- Cities
- 39 across Illinois
- Students listed
- 26,398 across 58 schools reporting enrollment
- Average enrollment
- 455 students among schools with published NCES enrollment
- Grade span
- 47 schools serve grades 9–12 only; 11 also span lower grades
- Verified HSPT guides
- 20
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Applying to a Catholic high school in Illinois?
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Looking for Catholic schools near you?
If your search was for catholic schools near me, start with our Catholic schools near me guide — it turns the search into a local shortlist: find your state, narrow to your metro, then compare the real schools in your commute on HSPT requirements, scholarships, cost, and fit. For Illinois specifically, pick a city above for the local list, then open each school page to confirm HSPT dates and admissions deadlines.
Catholic high schools in Chicago
Chicago holds the state's biggest concentration of Catholic high schools — 16 in this directory, from St. Ignatius College Prep (the city's largest, about 1,492 students) and DePaul College Prep to Cristo Rey Jesuit's corporate work-study model and a strong single-sex set: all-boys Brother Rice, Mount Carmel, St. Rita, and Leo, and all-girls Mother McAuley, Resurrection, Trinity, and Josephinum. Two well-known Chicago schools — Marist and St. Patrick — are not yet in this NCES-based directory; use the Archdiocese of Chicago's high school page for the complete list. See the Best Catholic high schools in Chicago page for the city's ranked shortlist.
Catholic high schools on the North Shore and in the northern suburbs
Wilmette's Loyola Academy is the largest Catholic high school in Illinois — about 1,947 students, the largest Jesuit high school in the country — and the region's other options are all-girls Regina Dominican in Wilmette, Northridge Prep in Niles, The Willows Academy in Des Plaines, Cristo Rey St. Martin in Waukegan, Marian Central in Woodstock, and Chesterton Academy in Volo. Carmel Catholic in Mundelein and Notre Dame College Prep in Niles aren't in this NCES-based directory yet — check the Archdiocese of Chicago's school finder.
Catholic high schools in the west suburbs
Fenwick in Oak Park (about 1,024 students), Nazareth Academy in La Grange Park, IC Catholic Prep in Elmhurst, and St. Francis in Wheaton anchor the west suburbs. Benet Academy in Lisle and St. Viator in Arlington Heights aren't in this NCES-based directory yet — see the Archdiocese of Chicago's high school page for the complete list.
Catholic high schools in the south suburbs and Will County
Marian Catholic in Chicago Heights (about 797 students, Lasallian), all-boys St. Laurence in Burbank, Providence Catholic in New Lenox, and Joliet Catholic Academy in Joliet serve the south suburbs, with the Diocese of Joliet covering Will County. See the Joliet city page for the local list.
Catholic high schools in Aurora and Kane County
Aurora's Catholic high schools sit in the Diocese of Rockford: all-boys Benedictine Marmion Academy, all-girls Rosary High School, and coed Aurora Central Catholic, with St. Edward Central Catholic in Elgin. See the Aurora city page for the local list.
Catholic high schools in central Illinois
Across central Illinois the options are usually one school per town: Boylan in Rockford, Peoria Notre Dame, Sacred Heart-Griffin in Springfield, Central Catholic in Bloomington, St. Thomas More in Champaign, and Bishop McNamara in Kankakee anchor the region, with single-school towns like Ottawa, Peru, Rock Island, Danville, Decatur, Effingham, Jacksonville, Sterling, Freeport, Marengo, and Georgetown filling out the list.
Catholic high schools in southern Illinois
The Diocese of Belleville covers the state's southern tier: Althoff Catholic in Belleville, Marquette Catholic in Alton, Mater Dei in Breese, Father McGivney in Glen Carbon, and Gibault Catholic in Waterloo. Althoff families looking for tuition figures should go straight to the school's Affordable Tuition page. See the Belleville city page for the local list.
A note on coverage: this directory is built from the NCES Private School Locator, so a handful of well-known Chicago-area schools are missing — Marist and St. Patrick in Chicago, Notre Dame College Prep in Niles, Carmel Catholic in Mundelein, Benet Academy in Lisle, and St. Viator in Arlington Heights. Use the Archdiocese of Chicago's Catholic high schools page and High School Search for the complete archdiocesan set. A note on system records: a few entries below are PK-12 or 6-12 schools where the high school is one part of a single campus and application — Bishop McNamara, Schlarman Academy, Marquette Academy, Our Lady Sacred Heart, Notre Dame Academy, The Willows Academy, Northridge Prep, Marian Catholic (8-12), Notre Dame de La Salette (8-12), and St. Teresa (7-12). The grades shown cover the full NCES record.
Largest Catholic high schools in Illinois
Enrollment is a useful scale signal — it tells you how big the campus is and, roughly, how big the classes are — but it is not a quality measure. Loyola Academy in Wilmette is the largest Catholic high school in Illinois at about 1,947 students (NCES 2023-24), followed by St. Ignatius College Prep (~1,492), DePaul College Prep (~1,245), St. Laurence (~1,030), and Fenwick (~1,024). A few entries below are PK-12 systems — Bishop McNamara, Schlarman Academy, Marquette Academy — whose totals include elementary and middle-school campuses.
Catholic school resources for Illinois families
How to compare Catholic high schools in Illinois
Start with the schools you can actually reach. For most Illinois families that is a short list of two to five schools within commuting distance — the region lists above keep the realistic choice set visible — and the differences that matter are the ones below.
- Commute and region — Chicago families typically choose within the city or one ring of suburbs; downstate families usually have one or two Catholic options in their town.
- School identity and religious order — Jesuit (St. Ignatius, Loyola, Christ the King, Cristo Rey), Lasallian (De La Salle, Marian Catholic), Dominican (Fenwick, Regina Dominican, Rosary), Augustinian (St. Rita, Mount Carmel), Benedictine (Marmion), Vincentian (DePaul Prep), and Sacred Heart (Josephinum, Willows) schools each carry a different formation and community culture.
- Single-gender versus coed — Illinois has a real single-sex set: seven all-boys and seven all-girls schools, listed above.
- School size and grade structure — the high schools range from about 46 students to about 1,947; a few PK-12 systems (Bishop McNamara, Schlarman, Marquette Academy) run as a single application.
- Entrance-exam policy — most Illinois Catholic high schools use the HSPT, but confirm the policy, the date, and whether one sitting can be shared across the schools on your list.
- Tuition, aid, and scholarships — tuition varies widely, most schools run financial aid, Chicago families have programs like the Big Shoulders Fund, and HSPT scores sometimes factor into merit scholarship consideration.
- Programs and outcomes — AP and dual-credit offerings, arts, athletics, and college placement; ask each school for its own profile rather than relying on a single ranking.
Admissions deadlines and HSPT dates are worth collecting early — most Illinois schools test between November and January of 8th grade — but treat them as planning inputs, not reasons to pick one school over another. Choose on fit: where your child will be comfortable, challenged, and known.
Best Catholic schools: how to choose — Our choosing-a-school guide turns rankings into a real comparison, and the HSPT scores and scholarships guide explains how to research aid.
How Catholic high school admissions work in Illinois
Illinois' Catholic high schools sit in six dioceses — the Archdiocese of Chicago plus the Dioceses of Joliet, Peoria, Rockford, Springfield, and Belleville — and each school runs its own admissions office. The Archdiocese of Chicago coordinates admissions across its high schools, so families there can work from one shared application and a common testing picture. The shape of the process is similar statewide: research in 7th grade, apply in 8th grade, test in the fall or winter, and receive decisions in the spring.
Most schools require an application, prior school records or transcripts, and some form of entrance assessment; some add family interviews or placement testing. Tuition and financial-aid applications run on separate deadlines from the admissions application, so collect every deadline in one place early. Ask each admissions office whether one HSPT sitting can be shared across the schools on your list — the Archdiocese of Chicago coordinates a common testing program for many of its schools.
A typical Illinois Catholic high school admissions timeline
- Spring-summer of 7th grade: shortlist schools within commuting distance and note each one's entrance-test policy and tuition and aid dates.
- Fall of 8th grade: applications open, campuses hold open houses, and families register for entrance exams.
- November-January: entrance testing (usually the HSPT) and most application deadlines.
- Winter-spring: financial-aid and scholarship applications are due; admission decisions arrive.
- Spring: enroll, complete placement paperwork, and confirm testing or waiting-list status at any remaining schools.
Which Illinois Catholic high schools use the HSPT?
The HSPT (High School Placement Test) is the entrance exam most Catholic high schools use nationwide, and Illinois schools — especially in the Archdiocese of Chicago, which coordinates a common testing program across its high schools — are heavily HSPT. But the policy differs by school and by application year, and Catholic affiliation alone does not establish which test a school requires.
Our honest status for Illinois
We have source-reviewed HSPT records for 9 of the 16 Chicago schools in the directory plus several more across the state — every one is linked in the verified section below and on each school's own HSPT page. For the schools without a verified record yet, the reliable move is to ask each admissions office directly — 'which entrance test does your school use this cycle, and what date?' — before building a prep plan.
Illinois schools with verified HSPT information
How to prepare for the HSPT in Illinois
If your target schools do use the HSPT, start with the free diagnostic to establish a baseline, then build a study plan around the earliest test date on your list. Our Chicago & the HSPT guide walks through the metro's schools one by one, and these guides cover the practical questions Illinois families ask:
What is the HSPT?
The sections, timing, and scoring of the exam most Catholic high schools use for admissions.
How Catholic high schools use HSPT scores
Admissions, placement, scholarships, and why the same percentile carries different weight at different schools.
HSPT vs ISEE vs SSAT
Which entrance exam your target schools use, how they differ, and why it matters for prep.
When to start HSPT prep
How far ahead to start based on your test date, school list, and how much prep your child can sustain.
Tuition and scholarships
Tuition varies by school and is set annually — the directory does not publish tuition figures, so check each school's admissions page. Most Illinois Catholic high schools run financial aid, Chicago families have programs like the Big Shoulders Fund, and HSPT scores sometimes factor into merit scholarship consideration. The HSPT scores and scholarships guide explains how to research aid, and the scholarship deadline calendar tracks the 2026-2027 financial-aid cycle.
Planning a Catholic high school application in Illinois
Entrance-test rules are set by the school or diocese and can differ even within the same city. Check each school’s admissions site before registering.
- Confirm whether each school requires the HSPT or another entrance test for the current cycle.
- Record application, transcript, recommendation, financial-aid, and scholarship deadlines separately.
- Ask whether one HSPT sitting can be shared with other schools in the same diocese.
- Compare the daily commute as well as tuition, aid, academic programs, and school size.
Illinois Catholic high school admissions FAQ
What are the best Catholic high schools in Illinois?
There is no official ranking. The schools Illinois families most often shortlist, region by region, are listed above: St. Ignatius and DePaul Prep in Chicago, Loyola Academy in Wilmette, Fenwick in Oak Park, Marian Catholic in Chicago Heights, Marmion in Aurora, and Boylan, Peoria Notre Dame, and Sacred Heart-Griffin downstate. Compare on fit — commute, single-gender versus coed, size, identity, programs, and aid — not on any single list.
What are the best Catholic high schools in Chicago?
Chicago families most often shortlist St. Ignatius College Prep, DePaul College Prep, Mother McAuley, Resurrection, Holy Trinity, Cristo Rey Jesuit, Mount Carmel, Brother Rice, St. Rita, and Leo — ten schools covering the city's single-sex and coed options. The Best Catholic high schools in Chicago page has the ranked list with admissions context.
Which Catholic high school in Illinois is the largest?
Loyola Academy in Wilmette is the largest Catholic high school in Illinois at about 1,947 students (NCES 2023-24), followed by St. Ignatius College Prep (~1,492), DePaul College Prep (~1,245), St. Laurence (~1,030), and Fenwick (~1,024).
How much does a Catholic high school in Illinois cost?
Tuition varies by school and is set annually, and most Illinois Catholic high schools run financial aid. The directory does not publish tuition figures, so check each school's admissions page — Althoff Catholic in Belleville, for example, publishes an Affordable Tuition page with current figures. Chicago families also have programs like the Big Shoulders Fund. The HSPT scores and scholarships guide explains how to research aid.
Do Illinois Catholic high schools require the HSPT?
Most Illinois Catholic high schools use the HSPT, and the Archdiocese of Chicago coordinates a common testing program across many of its schools — but policy differs by school and by application year, so confirm with each admissions office. We have source-reviewed HSPT records for 9 of the 16 Chicago schools in the directory plus several more statewide; each verified school is linked from its HSPT page.
When should my child apply to a Catholic high school in Illinois?
Plan on 8th grade: campuses hold open houses in the fall, entrance testing (usually the HSPT) runs from November to January, and decisions arrive in the spring. Financial-aid and scholarship applications run on separate deadlines. The HSPT test dates page tracks what we know for the current cycle.
Are there all-girls or all-boys Catholic high schools in Illinois?
Yes. The all-girls schools are Mother McAuley, Resurrection, Trinity, and Josephinum in Chicago, Regina Dominican in Wilmette, Rosary in Aurora, and The Willows Academy in Des Plaines. The all-boys schools are Brother Rice, Mount Carmel, St. Rita, and Leo in Chicago, St. Laurence in Burbank, Marmion in Aurora, and Notre Dame de La Salette in Georgetown.
What is the HSPT, and how do Catholic high schools use it?
The HSPT (High School Placement Test) is a standardized entrance exam covering verbal and quantitative skills, reading comprehension, and language. Schools use the scores for admissions decisions, class placement, and sometimes merit scholarships. The What is the HSPT? guide covers the exam, and the scores guide explains how the same percentile carries different weight at different schools.
How much is tuition at Althoff Catholic High School in Belleville?
Althoff Catholic's own Affordable Tuition page is the authoritative source for current tuition and aid figures — the school publishes its pricing there directly. Althoff is in the Diocese of Belleville and is one of the region's main Catholic high school options (about 335 students, NCES 2023-24).
Are Marist, Benet, Carmel, or St. Viator in this directory?
Not yet. This is an NCES-based directory, and several well-known Chicago-area schools are missing from the NCES feed: Marist and St. Patrick in Chicago, Notre Dame College Prep in Niles, Carmel Catholic in Mundelein, Benet Academy in Lisle, and St. Viator in Arlington Heights. The Archdiocese of Chicago's Catholic high schools page and its High School Search list the complete archdiocesan set.
Applying to a Catholic high school in Illinois?
Use the free diagnostic to establish an HSPT baseline before deciding how much preparation is necessary.
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Source: NCES Private School Locator 2023-24, plus school-verified directory additions (August 2026). Enrollment figures come from NCES and may not reflect current-year numbers; confirm admissions, tuition, and testing details directly with each school. Read the methodology.