Private and parochial schools in Chicagoland

This guide is for Chicago-area parents weighing a private or parochial school, whether that means a Catholic high school on the Southwest Side, an independent JK-12 school near Lincoln Park or a Montessori classroom for a toddler. It covers 12 schools in the city and close-in suburbs, with the 2026-27 tuition each one publishes, how families get there, and what the fall application calendar looks like.

Prices here range from a $3,200 family contribution to about $50,000 a year. The sticker price is rarely what everyone pays, so the aid section matters as much as the tuition figures. Dates below are for students entering in fall 2027, and several deadlines fall before Thanksgiving.

Catholic schools by side of town

Catholic high schools in the Chicago area share one entrance exam, the High School Placement Test. An eighth grader can take the exam at only one Catholic high school, so picking the testing school is the first real decision.

Near West Side and Pilsen

Saint Ignatius College Prep is a coed Jesuit high school at 1076 W. Roosevelt Road, founded in 1869. Tuition for 2026-27 is $24,300, and the school says about one in four students gets financial aid, with an average award above $16,000. The #12 Roosevelt bus runs past the campus.

Cristo Rey Jesuit High School sits at 1852 W. 22nd Place in Pilsen, a few blocks from the Pink Line’s Damen stop. The model is different from any other school here: students work at partner employers through the Corporate Work Study Program, and the school lists more than 200 Chicago businesses taking part. The family contribution for 2026-27 is $3,200, which the school says covers about 15% of the $21,000 cost per student. Admission has an income cap; for a family of four, household income must be under $82,500.

North Side

DePaul College Prep is a Vincentian Catholic high school on the North Side, with the main entrance and parking at 3300 N. Campbell Ave., just west of Western Avenue and a block north of Belmont. Tuition is $20,600 plus a $550 registration fee, and there is a one-time $800 iPad fee for incoming freshmen. The school runs the International Baccalaureate diploma program and has learning specialists for students with diagnosed learning differences. The #77 Belmont and #49 Western buses both stop close by.

Far South Side

Two single-sex schools sit next to each other in Mount Greenwood, near 99th Street and Pulaski Road. Brother Rice High School is an all-boys Catholic school at 10001 S. Pulaski Road. Tuition for 2026-27 is $15,900, plus a $300 registration fee and a $595 Chromebook fee.

Mother McAuley Liberal Arts High School is an all-girls Mercy school at 3737 W. 99th St. Tuition is $15,700, paid in ten monthly installments of $1,570, plus a $400 family fundraising fee tied to a raffle. The practical detail parents ask about is the commute: the school runs bus service ($2,100 round trip this year) and a $600 shuttle from the Oak Lawn and Beverly Metra stations, with students paying their own train fare.

Independent schools

Independent schools set their own admissions and tests. Latin, for example, requires the Independent School Entrance Exam for fifth-grade applicants, and decisions come later in the winter than at Catholic high schools.

Latin School of Chicago is a coed JK-12 day school at 59 W. North Blvd. on the north edge of the Gold Coast. Tuition for 2026-27 is $44,585 for JK-4, $49,455 for grades 5-8 and $50,635 for grades 9-12. The fee list is worth reading, too: the eighth-grade trip to Washington, D.C., is estimated at $1,925. The #22 Clark and #72 North buses stop nearby, and the Red Line’s Clark/Division stop is about a 10-minute walk.

Francis W. Parker School is a progressive JK-12 school at 330 W. Webster Ave. in Lincoln Park, with about 940 students. Tuition is $45,570 through fifth grade and $49,900 from sixth grade on, before grade-level fees that run from $570 to $3,430. Parker says 20% of students get financial assistance, with an average award of $35,000, and that a family with one child earning around $150,000 may qualify. Expect tight street parking on the surrounding blocks at drop-off and pickup.

University of Chicago Laboratory Schools, known as Lab, runs from nursery through 12th grade at 1362 E. 59th St. in Hyde Park. Tuition is $44,748 through fifth grade, $47,106 for middle school and $49,050 for high school. Lab says 70% of students get some discount through financial aid, tuition remission for university employees, or both. The Metra Electric’s 59th Street stop is a short walk away.

Morgan Park Academy is a PreK-12 independent school on a 20-acre campus at 2153 W. 111th St. in Morgan Park, an independent option on the Far South Side. The school announced a new merit award, the Alice S. Coller Scholarship, in June 2026. The school’s tuition page was behind a bot check when this guide was checked, so ask admissions for the current figure.

Specialized and Montessori

Montessori schools group children in mixed-age classrooms and often start well before kindergarten, which is why their price lists run by program and hours rather than by grade.

Near North Montessori is at 1434 W. Division St. in West Town, about a block from the Blue Line’s Division stop. Programs run from a parent-infant class through junior high. Full-day primary and elementary tuition is $26,346, and junior high is $28,197. New families should budget for the extras: a $2,500 one-time family entrance fee and a $1,000 building fee each year for three years.

Chiaravalle Montessori has taught children from 16 months through eighth grade in Evanston since 1965, in a school building designed by Daniel Burnham at 425 Dempster St., two blocks from the lake. Core toddler and early childhood tuition is $24,298, lower elementary is $27,066, upper elementary is $28,202 and middle school is $29,635. Before- and after-school care costs extra.

Alcuin Montessori School in Oak Park, at 324 N. Oak Park Ave., is the pick for families of a child with learning differences. The school’s Everstone @ Alcuin program (formerly Redwood @ Alcuin) uses small classes and specialized teachers. Posted rates run from $13,572 for half-day primary to $33,176 for Everstone middle school, but Alcuin uses sliding-scale tuition, so families who apply for assistance pay based on their circumstances. The Green Line’s Oak Park stop is about three blocks south.

Financial aid and scholarships

Apply for aid even if you think you earn too much. Parker’s own guidance puts possible eligibility around $150,000 for a one-child family, and Latin says aid awards can cover tuition, books and lunch. Aid at most schools is need-based and must be renewed every year.

Catholic schools add merit money tied to the entrance exam. DePaul Prep gives academic scholarships to students who score 85 or above on the exam when they take it there. Mother McAuley says the school’s Class of 2030 received $1,091,000 in merit scholarships over four years.

Outside help comes mainly from the Big Shoulders Fund, which supports schools with demonstrated need in Chicago and Northwest Indiana, and the Daniel Murphy Scholarship Fund, which pays high school tuition for students from low-income Chicago families. Big Shoulders scholarships from elementary school often carry over to high school.

A new Federal Scholarship Tax Credit program starts in January 2027. Scholarship groups such as Empower Illinois plan to use donations to fund tuition for households earning up to 300% of area median income. Illinois has to opt in for families here to benefit, and as of Empower Illinois’s June 2026 update, Gov. JB Pritzker had not decided.

Application timelines

• Latin: applications due November 30, 2026, for most grades; financial aid due January 15, 2027.
• Parker: applications and financial assistance due December 1, 2026; decisions February 26, 2027.
• Catholic high schools: exam registration opens November 13, 2026, and the exam is Saturday, December 5, 2026. At Saint Ignatius, the application is due December 16 and decisions come January 29, 2027.
• Cristo Rey: early decision deadline December 11, 2026; regular deadline January 29, 2027.
• DePaul Prep: financial aid for incoming freshmen closes December 31, 2026.
• Morgan Park Academy: high school entrance and scholarship exam Saturday, November 7, 2026, at 9 a.m.

The Montessori schools here set their own dates by program, so check each admissions page this fall.

Good to know

Checked September 28, 2026. Open houses coming up include DePaul Prep on October 8 (6 to 8 p.m.) and November 1 (noon to 2 p.m.), Morgan Park Academy’s high school open houses on October 10 and October 28, and Saint Ignatius on November 15 from noon to 4 p.m. Saint Ignatius and DePaul Prep both open financial aid applications on October 1, 2026. Tuition figures are 2026-27 rates and usually rise each year, so check the school’s page before you budget.

Know a place that belongs in this guide, or a detail that has changed? Send a correction.