Lake Forest Academy Ranked Top Illinois Private School In New Ranking

LAKE FOREST, IL — Lake Forest Academy improved its ranking in the 2024 edition of Niche's Best Schools and Districts rankings, taking top spot among private schools in Illinois.

Rankings from Niche, a school information, rating and review website, consider factors other than test scores and academic performance.

They incorporate qualitative feedback from students, alumni and parents with quantitative data, aiming to evaluate the quality of teachers, facilities, extracurricular opportunities and other resources.

In the 10th annual national rankings, Lake Forest Academy is positioned No. 36 nationally among nearly 5,000 private high schools and No. 13 among 426 boarding schools.

It is one of just three Illinois schools to crack the national top 100 schools — and it is the only outside of the city of Chicago.

Lake Forest Academy, 1500 W. Kennedy Road, has an annual tuition of more than $50,000 (nearly $70,000 for boarding students, who compose about half the student body) with 30 percent of students receiving an average of more than $47,000 in financial aid, according to its Niche profile.

Of the six grades Niche calculates — academics, teachers, activities, diversity, college prep and sports — Lake Forest Academy is rated "A+" in all but "sports," where it receives an A-.

And 95 percent of the 83 reviews published on the ratings website rate Lake Forest Academy as "very good" or "excellent."

Of the top 25 ranked private high schools in Illinois, nine are in North Shore communities, including Deerfield, Evanston, Northfield, Skokie, Wilmette, Winnetka.

And Woodlands Academy of the Sacred Heart, also located in Lake Forest, was ranked No. 1 among Catholic high schools and among all-girl high schools.

North Shore schools top Niche's rankings of public school districts, as well. Four of the five top rated public school districts in the country are in the north suburbs — Stevenson High School District 125, Glenbrook High School District 225, Evanston Township High School District 202 and Township High School District 113.