The Illinois High School Association (IHSA) Board of Directors met for its regularly scheduled meeting at the I Hotel in Champaign on Saturday, March 15, 2025, where the Board voted to make three significant changes to Board Policy aimed at addressing competitive equity and simplifying the State Series (postseason) classification process.
The changes approved at the meeting will be used to determine the State Series classifications for the 2025-26 school year.
In December, as a part of an ongoing review of the classification process by the IHSA Board of Directors, the Board voted to alter the classification process from a two-year cycle to an annual cycle beginning in 2025-26. Additionally, the Board issued a questionnaire to member schools in January to gain additional feedback on multiple topics, including the ones addressed at the March meeting.
“Competitive equity and classifications are a topical issue here in Illinois and for state associations around the country,” said IHSA Executive Director Craig Anderson. “No state has a perfect system, so it is important that we remain fluid as a Board and staff to be able to review and adapt our policies as new trends emerge and issues evolve.”
The IHSA intends to release fall and winter sport classifications for 2025-26 by May 1. Follow 2025-26 classification information here.
The summary of three changes approved at the March Board Meeting are highlighted below:
1. Move Back To Fixed Classification Cutoffs
Beginning in 2025-26, IHSA sports and activities with multiple classes will have predetermined enrollment classification cutoffs. The classification cutoffs by sports/activity can be viewed here.
The enrollment cutoffs for each sport/activity were determined by starting with the average classification cutoff from the past four years, then rounding up or down to nearest 50th or 100th. Some sports were then adjusted slightly based on class participation trends over the past two years.
“Previously, we used a percentage-based formula to determine which State Series class each school would compete in,” said Anderson. “Over half of the IHSA membership consists of schools with 500 students or less. Looking at the current enrollment trends in the state, especially for schools with enrollments of 600 or less, we reached a belief that the percentage-based formula system is rapidly going to create competitive equity issues in certain sports and activities. Returning to a set enrollment cutoff system, which the IHSA used in the two-class era from 1971 to 2007, should bring greater consistency and understanding to the process for our schools. The IHSA Board will evaluate the cutoffs annually, but it is our hope that if and when changes are necessary, we are able to forecast and report them in advance to aid our schools in their schedule preparation.”
See the fixed classifications for 2025-26 below:
2. Multiplier Waiver Process Changed
In 2005, IHSA member schools voted to implement a 1.65 multiplier on the classification enrollment of its non-boundaried schools (any school that is not subject to drawing its students from a fixed boundary that traditional public schools). Over time, an automatic waiver of the 1.65 multiplier was developed based on a team’s State Series success in each sport/activity. Beginning in 2025-26, the automatic waiver process will be eliminated and replaced by an annual waiver application process. A baseline criteria was also established to establish if a team will be eligible to apply for a waiver. A sport or activity program at a particular non-boundaried school is not eligible to apply for a waiver if over the course of the previous three (3) school terms, the program (as a team) has achieved any of the following:
1) In Girls’ Volleyball, Boys’ Basketball, Girls’ Basketball, Boys’ Soccer, Girls’ Soccer, Baseball, or Softball accomplishes the following:
a. Wins an IHSA Sectional Semi-final contest
2) In Wrestling or Scholastic Bowl accomplishes the following:
a. Wins an IHSA Regional Tournament
3) In Boys’ Track and Field, Girls’ Track and Field, Boys’ Tennis, Girls’ Tennis, Competitive Cheerleading, or Competitive Dance accomplishes the following:
a. Wins an IHSA Sectional Tournament or finishes in the Top 10 as a team at the IHSA State Finals
4) In Boys’ Cross Country, Girls’ Cross Country, Boys’ Golf, and Girls’ Golf, accomplishes the following:
a. Wins an IHSA Regional Tournament or qualifies for the IHSA State Finals
5) In Football, accomplishes the following:
a. Wins at least one IHSA Playoff football game
Non-boundaried schools eligible for a waiver, will be required to apply for it online in the IHSA Schools Center. The IHSA staff will review each waiver request with the school name removed and vote to approve or deny. A simple majority vote will determine the result. The IHSA Board will review the staff votes and have the discretion to change them.
“The multiplier waiver was initially implemented in hopes of trying to provide greater competitive equity to teams who were being embarrassed in their multiplied class in certain sports,” said Anderson. “Our member schools have been nearly unanimous in expressing their concerns that the current waiver system was not working as intended. The formula used to determine the automatic waivers wasn’t encompassing enough data, which created too many holes in the process. The result was often teams who were already highly competitive in higher classifications being granted waivers to play in lower classifications. This new two-tier process to determine waivers will encompass more data that we believe will improve competitive equity overall.”
3. Success Adjustment
The IHSA Board made an adjustment to the Success Adjustment Policy. The Policy was initially implemented in 2014 and seeks to provide greater competitive equity for non-boundaried schools who achieve certain levels of State Final success by moving them up in classification. The Policy initially looked at the amount of State Final success that occurred over four years, but was adjusted to two years when the IHSA moved to a two-year classification cycle. Beginning in 2025-26, the Success Adjustment Policy will encompass a rolling three-year period. Entering each school year, if a team has won two state final trophies in the past three years in a sport, they will then be subject to the adjustment and move up one class in that sport. For example, a school who has won two state final trophies in a sport/activity over the course of 2022-23, 2023-24, and 2024-25 will be subject to the adjustment in 2025-26. In 2026-27, they will only be subject to the adjustment if they have two state final trophies over the course of 2023-24, 2024-25, and 2025-26.
“This Policy has only been in place for a decade, so we can continue to review and explore how it can be best utilized to improve competitive equity,” said Anderson. “The Board felt like this slight change in the timeframe for applying this policy was a more accurate measure of a program’s current competitive standing. The Board continues to discuss changes to it, including the possibility of applying it to all IHSA member schools based on the results of the most recent membership questionnaire.”
Anderson summarized the action taken by the Board over the past three meetings related to classifications, while indicating that their work may not be done.
“Ultimately, the goal of these changes is to create greater competitive equity by putting more schools in classifications where they will face like competition,” said Anderson. “The IHSA Board of Directors has heard the concerns member schools have voiced in recent years, whether through direct correspondence, or indirectly through by-law amendment proposals. The Board has addressed four areas of Board Policy, which they control. Discussions continue among the membership about the multiplier itself, and whether the 1.65 number remains appropriate in our current classification structure. The 1.65 figure could only be changed via a by-law proposal by a member school, approval from the Legislative Commission, and approval by a member school vote. We believe the changes approved by the Board in December and March will take significant strides in improving competitive equity. As a staff, we will continue to collect and analyze data so that the Board and membership can make informed decisions.”
APPEALS & ELIGIBILITY RULINGS
1. The Board sustained the Executive Director’s ruling on a student from Christian Heritage Academy in Northfield. The student was ruled ineligible for non-compliance with IHSA By-law 3.040.
2. The Board sustained the Executive Director’s ruling on a student from Lutheran High School in Springfield. The student was granted limited eligibility in accordance with the provisions of IHSA By-law 3.043.3 and was seeking full eligibility.
