The top reported proficiency rate is 94% in English language arts. The lowest is 84% in Math.
Original Research by School Decision on University of Illinois High Sch
University of Illinois High School is a selective public laboratory school affiliated with the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, serving grades seven through twelve in Urbana. It operates outside traditional public school governance, with no elected school board, no attendance boundaries, and no reliance on property tax revenue, which shapes how it functions in the community.
The school enrolls a small but intentionally diverse student body. The enrollment is concentrated in the high school grades, with roughly equal cohorts across grades nine through twelve and a notably smaller cohort in grade eight. The student population is substantially composed of Asian students, with a sizable share also identifying as white, Hispanic, or multiracial. Small numbers of Black, Native American, and Pacific Islander students are also present. Free-or-reduced-price lunch data was not reported, and counts for special education and English learner populations were not available.
Academic performance data for 2024-25 is thin. State testing results (Illinois Assessment of Readiness and Illinois Science Assessment) exist only for grade eight. In that cohort, proficiency in English language arts is very strong, and math and science proficiency are likewise very strong, with participation rates well above the norm. No state testing data is available for grades three through seven, which would be expected at those grade levels; the school does not report results for high school grades because Illinois does not administer state assessments to grades nine through twelve. Among Champaign County districts, this school's proficiency index sits at the top quartile. Beyond grade eight, assessment information would come from the school's own internal measures and transcript data, which were not provided here.
The school sits in Urbana, a city anchored by the University of Illinois campus and a walkable historic downtown seven blocks wide. Urbana is Illinois' only Gold Level Bicycle Friendly Community, served by a bus system with routes across the metro area, and home to the Urbana Free Library and city parks and aquatic centers. Major employers are dominated by the university and Carle Health. The housing market in the area has seen modest appreciation and rental growth in recent months. The city recently adopted a comprehensive plan addressing land use, housing, transportation, and economic development.
A parent may want to look into the school's course offerings, academic pathway options for high school students, application and admission criteria, and transcript or standardized testing performance data from the high school grades directly with the school, since those details were not captured in publicly reported state data. Given the school's laboratory status and selective admissions, understanding its philosophy, curriculum design, and student support structures would also be important to a family considering enrollment.
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