Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) records show that 59 percent of Sparta High School's (SHS) 2015 graduating class enrolled in college within 12 months of graduation.
The 2015 state average for students in public schools was 70 percent.
For SHS, its college enrollment rate marks an improvement over 2014, when 48 percent of its graduates chose post-secondary education.
The data, collected by the National Student Clearinghouse, includes two- and four-year colleges.
Enrollment at SHS in 2015 was 379; 98 (25.9 percent) were seniors.
Also according to ISBE, 23.3 percent of SHS seniors were "college ready" in 2015, versus an average of 46 percent statewide.
All students who score a 21 on the ACT qualify as "college ready."
SHS students did better on reading (22.2 percent) and English (50 percent) and worse on math (10 percent) and science (14.4 percent).
Only 6.7 percent of SHS students were college ready in all four subjects, according to ISBE.
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