Benet Academy - Students and Faculty

Students and Faculty

Benet enrolled 1,333 students in 2009–10. Most students come from Catholic families with professional and college-educated parents. In 2003–04, 97 percent of students were Roman Catholic; two percent received financial aid, which totaled $3,000. Tuition was $6,000. The average class size was 27 students. Most students come from Lisle, Downers Grove, and Naperville, but students in the class of 2013 came from 65 different schools and 34 different municipalities in DuPage and surrounding counties.

The Benet graduating class of 2010 achieved an average composite score of 28.4 (above the 92nd percentile) on the ACT, a standardized college admission test, which was the seventh straight year average score topped 28, compared to a statewide average of 20.7 and national average of 21.0. Over 42 percent of the class had a score of 30 (above the 96th percentile) or higher. In 2000, Benet outscored all DuPage County high schools, which then-Principal Ernest Stark attributed to its closed campus policy, silent study halls, and "more focused" and "not very fancy" curriculum. In 1993, Benet's average ACT score exceeded those of 195 public high schools in northern Illinois, second only to the Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy, a selective residential school for gifted students. In 2008, Benet had nine National Merit Semi-Finalists, 34 National Merit Commended Scholars, and 5 National Merit Hispanic Scholars in the National Merit Scholarship Program and 137 students were named Illinois State Scholars, an honor awarded to top ten percent of seniors in the state and based on test scores, class rank, or both. In 2010, 332 students took Advanced Placement exams and 86 percent of them scored at least a three out of five. Two National AP Scholar awards were granted to students who averaged a 4 on all exams taken and received at least a 4 on eight or more exams, 28 AP Scholar with Distinction awards were granted to students who averaged at least 3.5 on all exams taken and scored at least a 3 on five or more exams, 51 AP Scholar awards were granted to students who scored at least a 3 on three or more exams. 76 students received other AP Scholar awards. Benet does not report class rankings.

More than 99 percent of Benet graduates go to college; roughly 1 percent serve in the military. Benet students were implicated in the University of Illinois clout scandal, in which some applicants were given preferential admission to the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) despite having sub-par qualifications. The Chicago Tribune, investigating the scandal, reported that a majority of students who were admitted to UIUC through political favors came from elite, affluent high schools such as Benet, where families were politically connected with elected officials and university trustees. An email between admissions officers revealed that a female Benet student was admitted to the university's College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, despite the fact that she had ranked lower than 27 of her classmates who were put on a waiting list or denied admission. Between 2005 and 2009, thirteen applicants from Benet were alleged to have had political connections; eight of them were admitted to UIUC.

In 2010 Benet employed 76 faculty, 26 of whom were alumni of the school. The average tenure was 17.6 years; 25 current or former faculty members served for 25 years or more. Tim White, an English teacher, completed his 50th consecutive year of teaching at Benet in the 2008–09 school year and was featured in an ABC 7 News segment entitled "Someone You Should Know".