Charter School Feasibility Study in Illinois

Why the Illinois school record is unusual

Charter schools seldom borrow from SBA, since the typical operator is a nonprofit and that kind of borrower falls outside the program. The Illinois record therefore describes the for-profit and operating-company corner of a larger market. From FY2017 to FY2026 SBA approved 30 loans for schools in the state, worth $36.4 million in gross dollars, which ranks Illinois 7 of 50 for the class. The class sits 23 of 39 within Illinois, and a location quotient of 0.93x says schools weigh a little less in the state book than in the country's.

Large tickets and a balanced program mix

The loans are big for a small-business program. The median is $924,500, which is 1.35x what the class borrows across the country; the central band of approvals stretches from $369,000 to $1.6 million. Programs split almost evenly, with 17 loans came through SBA 7(a) and 13 came through SBA 504, and franchising covers 6.7% of loans. That mix is typical of owner-occupied buildings, where a long-term real estate loan and a working capital loan sit side by side. The page has no lender table to show, so a borrower should not infer which institutions favour schools. Cook County holds 17 of the loans, Will has 5, DuPage and Lake have 3 each, and Kane has 2.

Cohort floors held back

The two outcome rates, for cancelled approvals and for charged-off loans, come from cohorts too small to publish. They are therefore omitted, which is not the same as zero, and a lender reading this page should not take the omission as evidence that the loans performed well or badly.

Tests a school feasibility study has to run

Enrollment drives everything. A study should test the number of families the program can attract at its grade levels, the competing public, charter and private options near the site, and the funding or tuition the school actually receives per student. Facility cost must be reconciled with a typical ticket close to $924,500, and any plan above that should explain what else funds the building. Debt service coverage depends on a stable roll, so the study should model a year of weak enrollment and a delayed opening. The appraisal will treat a school as a special-purpose building, so its value rests on conversion potential as much as on current use.

Because the industry code is shared with private schools, charter operators cannot be isolated in this record, and the counts above include conventional private schools as well.