Metro East Sun

McKendree University ranked No. 4 for student athletic participation in the state, according to a Metro East Sun analysis of college sports participation.

The U.S. Department of Education Office of Postsecondary Education collects athletics data annually from all institutions with intercollegiate athletics programs that receive funding through federal financial aid programs. Data for 2016 – the latest year available – includes more than 2,000 schools nationwide.

The number of McKendree University students taking part in athletic programs was 636 – 403 men and 233 women – representing the largest contingent of student athletes in Illinois.

In all, there are 23,295 students – 14,354 men and 8.941 women – playing on athletic teams at 97 colleges and universities in the state.

---

Colleges with the most student athletes

Rank	School	Division	Total Undergraduates	Male Student Athletes	Female Student Athletes	Total Number of Student Athletes
1	Robert Morris University Illinois	NAIA Division II	2,253	665	314	979
2	Augustana College	NCAA Division III with football	2,514	435	227	662
3	Benedictine University	NCAA Division III with football	2,687	428	217	645
4	McKendree University	NCAA Division II with football	1,820	403	233	636
5	North Central College	NCAA Division III with football	2,534	439	190	629
6	Aurora University	NCAA Division III with football	3,302	399	194	593
7	Olivet Nazarene University	NAIA Division II	3,019	375	194	569
8	Illinois Wesleyan University	NCAA Division III with football	1,760	333	206	539
9	Northwestern University	NCAA Division I-FBS	8,249	235	243	478
10	University of Chicago	NCAA Division III with football	5,956	320	154	474
11	Elmhurst College	NCAA Division III with football	2,682	327	143	470
12	Monmouth College	NCAA Division III with football	1,124	294	173	467
13	Millikin University	NCAA Division III with football	1,796	309	156	465
14	Wheaton College	NCAA Division III with football	2,400	298	166	464
15	University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign	NCAA Division I-FBS	32,126	269	185	454
16	Eastern Illinois University	NCAA Division I-FCS	5,117	270	164	434
17	University of St Francis	NAIA Division II	1,320	266	167	433
18	Quincy University	NCAA Division II with football	1,035	294	126	420
19	Illinois State University	NCAA Division I-FCS	17,420	230	189	419
20	Northern Illinois University	NCAA Division I-FBS	12,323	242	161	403
21	Western Illinois University	NCAA Division I-FCS	7,482	241	155	396
22	North Park University	NCAA Division III with football	1,884	248	138	386
23	Illinois College	NCAA Division III with football	949	250	121	371
24	Southern Illinois University-Carbondale	NCAA Division I-FCS	10,509	227	138	365
25	Greenville College	NCAA Division III with football	913	240	122	362
26	Lake Forest College	NCAA Division III with football	1,502	207	147	354
27	Lewis University	NCAA Division II without football	3,741	196	155	351
28	University of Illinois at Chicago	NCAA Division I without football	16,408	169	163	332
29	Concordia University-Chicago	NCAA Division III with football	1,355	201	121	322
30	Knox College	NCAA Division III with football	1,325	178	134	312
31	Judson University	NAIA Division I	786	174	128	302
32	Saint Xavier University	NAIA Division II	2,599	201	91	292
33	College of DuPage	NJCAA Division III	6,335	204	65	269
34	MacMurray College	NCAA Division III with football	531	185	81	266
35	Rockford University	NCAA Division III with football	909	183	60	243
36	University of Illinois at Springfield	NCAA Division II without football	1,896	127	115	242
37	Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville	NCAA Division I without football	9,883	138	102	240
38	Trinity Christian College	NAIA Division II	903	131	106	237
39	Lincoln College	NJCAA Division III	727	137	95	232
40	Bradley University	NCAA Division I without football	4,278	126	101	227
41	Dominican University	NCAA Division III without football	2,101	126	98	224
42	Loyola University Chicago	NCAA Division I without football	10,261	109	114	223
43	Trinity International University-Illinois	NAIA Division I	631	152	70	222
44	Eureka College	NCAA Division III with football	644	155	60	215
45	DePaul University	NCAA Division I without football	13,126	99	113	212
46	Illinois Institute of Technology	NCAA Division III without football	2,709	120	75	195
47	Triton College	Other	3,107	119	75	194
48	William Rainey Harper College	NJCAA Division III	4,331	119	66	185
49	Roosevelt University	NAIA Division II	2,250	89	82	171
50	Moraine Valley Community College	NJCAA Division II	6,186	87	83	170
51	Blackburn College	NCAA Division III without football	569	80	76	156
52	Parkland College	NJCAA Division II	2,978	83	69	152
53	Illinois Central College	NJCAA Division II	3,082	87	63	150
54	Waubonsee Community College	NJCAA Division II	3,101	78	69	147
55	Lewis and Clark Community College	NJCAA Division I	1,731	82	64	146
56	Oakton Community College	NJCAA Division II	2,596	98	42	140
57	Joliet Junior College	NJCAA Division III	4,988	69	68	137
58	Southwestern Illinois College	NJCAA Division I	3,860	73	63	136
59	Kaskaskia College	NJCAA Division I	1,233	64	68	132
60	South Suburban College	NJCAA Division II	1,328	73	59	132
61	Chicago State University	NCAA Division I without football	1,464	55	75	130
62	Illinois Valley Community College	NJCAA Division II	1,256	73	53	126
63	Rock Valley College	NJCAA Division III	2,999	61	65	126
64	Carl Sandburg College	NJCAA Division II	929	73	52	125
65	College of Lake County	NJCAA Division II	3,808	83	42	125
66	Morton College	NJCAA Division II	1,253	67	57	124
67	McHenry County College	NJCAA Division II	1,944	73	42	115
68	Rend Lake College	NJCAA Division I	1,135	53	58	111
69	Elgin Community College	NJCAA Division III	3,008	73	33	106
70	Lincoln Land Community College	NJCAA Division II	2,269	59	47	106
71	Lincoln Trail College	NJCAA Division I	386	59	46	105
72	Prairie State College	NJCAA Division II	1,400	60	45	105
73	John A Logan College	NJCAA Division I	1,899	56	46	102
74	Kankakee Community College	NJCAA Division II	1,064	62	39	101
75	Heartland Community College	NJCAA Division II	2,107	57	42	99
76	Highland Community College	NJCAA Division I	823	55	44	99
77	Sauk Valley Community College	NJCAA Division I	792	45	47	92
78	Black Hawk College	NJCAA Division II	1,909	56	34	90
79	Olney Central College	NJCAA Division I	479	57	33	90
80	Lake Land College	NJCAA Division I	2,261	40	49	89
81	Wabash Valley College	NJCAA Division I	464	52	35	87
82	Danville Area Community College	NJCAA Division II	973	46	31	77
83	Shawnee Community College	NJCAA Division I	739	35	35	70
84	Southeastern Illinois College	NJCAA Division I	457	43	27	70
85	Governors State University	NAIA Division II	1,923	28	39	67
86	John Wood Community College	NJCAA Division II	965	39	27	66
87	Lincoln Christian University	NAIA Division II	357	36	28	64
88	Moody Bible Institute	NCCAA Division II	2,275	33	30	63
89	City Colleges of Chicago-Malcolm X College	NJCAA Division I	2,420	35	24	59
90	Frontier Community College	NJCAA Division I	257	26	27	53
91	City Colleges of Chicago-Harry S Truman College	NJCAA Division I	1,599	39	13	52
92	Kishwaukee College	NJCAA Division II	1,570	37	13	50
93	Spoon River College	NJCAA Division II	727	27	16	43
94	City Colleges of Chicago-Kennedy-King College	NJCAA Division I	1,570	30	11	41
95	City Colleges of Chicago-Olive-Harvey College	NJCAA Division II	781	29	7	36
96	City Colleges of Chicago-Richard J Daley College	NJCAA Division I	1,901	34		34
97	City Colleges of Chicago-Wilbur Wright College	NJCAA Division II	3,149	12	12	24

Source: U.S. Department of Education Office of Postsecondary Education