IHSA issues classification cutoffs for 2027-08

BLOOMINGTON — The Illinois High School Association (IHSA) Board of Directors met Monday, where the Board approved an update to the Classification Policy. They would further provide revised classification cutoffs in multiple IHSA sports that will go into effect for the 2027-2028 school year.

In 2024, the IHSA Board approved significant changes to the IHSA Classification Policy, as well as to the multiplier waiver process. Those changes went into effect for the 2025-26 school year. The changes included moving from a two-year classification cycle to an annual cycle. It will also be returning to fixed classification cutoffs as opposed to percentage-based cutoffs.

“When revamping the Classification Policy in 2024, one of our goals was to provide member schools with one year’s notice in advance of any class cutoff changes to help them prepare accordingly,” said IHSA Executive Director Craig Anderson. “All the changes approved today will go into effect during the 2027-28 school year.”

About the current Classification Policy

The Board Classification Policy approved in 2024 called for all cutoffs to be rounded to the nearest 50^th or 100^th numeral. The Board made a slight modification to that on Monday, giving themselves the ability to set cutoffs to the 25^th numeral.

“In revisiting the Policy, we recognized that a significant number of schools can be impacted by 25 students in our four-class sports, which can make balancing the total number of competing teams in each class difficult,” said Anderson. “The overall enrollment within our membership is currently declining, so it makes sense to lower some of these cutoffs to keep in line with that trend. The data shows us that the majority of schools who are moving up in classification were competing in that same class just a year or two ago.”

The sports with new classification cutoffs in 2027-28 are below. All other sports will remain the same. Those cutoffs can be found here.

2027-28 CLASSIFICATION CHANGES BY SPORT

Baseball, Boys/Girls Basketball, Softball, Girls Volleyball

• Class 1A  |  1-275
• Class 2A  |  275.01-600
• Class 3A  |  600.01-1600
• Class 4A  | 1600.01 or greater

Girls Soccer

• Class 1A  |  1-750 
• Class 2A  |  750.01-1750 
• Class 3A  |  1750.01 or greater

Boys Golf

• Class 1A  |  1-450
• Class 2A  |  450.01-1400
• Class 3A  |  1400.01 or greater

Boys Soccer

• Class 1A  |  1-675
• Class 2A  |  675.01-1650
• Class 3A  |  1650.01 or greater

Girls Tennis

• Class 1A  |  1-1400
• Class 2A  |  1400.01 or greater

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