Prairie State Wire

Employers classified under the Educational Services industry based in Illinois submitted 1,221 H-1B petitions during 2024, according to data provided by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services via the H-1B Employer Data Hub.

Of these, 1,197 were approved (98%), while 24 were denied (2%).

Employers are classified under industries based on their reported operations and may be involved in multiple industries.

The H-1B visa program allows U.S. employers to temporarily hire foreign workers in specialty occupations requiring specialized knowledge and at least a bachelor’s degree or equivalent. It is designed to address skill gaps in the U.S. workforce while ensuring wage standards to protect both U.S. and H-1B workers. Employers must certify that they will pay H-1B workers wages equal to or greater than those of similarly qualified U.S. employees or the prevailing local wage.

The average approval rate for H-1B petitions across the United States in 2024 stood at 98%, higher than 2023's 97.3%. Statewide, Illinois employers across all industries submitted 19,923 petitions during the same period, achieving an approval rate of 98.7%.

While the Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services industry led the H-1B filings with 10,665 petitions, representing 53.5% of all submissions in Illinois during 2024, the next largest contributor was the Finance and Insurance industry, which accounted for 2,097 petitions and represented 10.5% of the total. Among petitions from employers in the Finance and Insurance industry, 10,502 were approved and 163 were denied.

The Illinois employers which made the most petitions in the Educational Services sector during 2024 included University of Illinois at Urbana-C with 321 petitions, The University of Chicago with 284 petitions, and Northwestern University with 235 petitions.

Compared to 2023, the Educational Services sector in Illinois saw a 5.2% increase in the number of H-1B petitions during 2024.

The United States admits around 1 million legal immigrants annually, most of whom receive permanent residence (green cards) through family sponsorship or employment-based visas. In 2023, about 1.2 million immigrants were granted green cards, a return to pre-pandemic levels. Temporary visa programs, such as the H-1B for highly skilled workers and H-2A for seasonal agricultural workers, also play a critical role in filling workforce needs.

Public opinion on immigration varies, with 46% of Americans favoring maintaining current legal immigration levels, according to a 2024 Pew Research Center survey. Additionally, 42% believe that highly skilled workers, such as scientists, doctors, and programmers, should be prioritized for legal immigration, compared to 25% who prioritize workers filling labor shortages and 19% who emphasize family sponsorship. Despite this, family sponsorship remains the most common path to permanent residency, accounting for 63% of green cards issued in 2023.

The data in this article comes from the H-1B Employer Data Hub provided by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). While USCIS strives for accuracy, manual data entry and errors on paper forms submitted by applicants or petitioners may result in discrepancies in employer names, tax IDs, locations, or other details.

Rank	Industry	Total Petitions	% of All Submissions	% Approved	% Denied
1	Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services	10,665	53.5%	98.5%	1.5%
2	Finance and Insurance	2,097	10.5%	99.4%	0.6%
3	Management of Companies and Enterprises	1,978	9.9%	99.3%	0.7%
4	Manufacturing	1,744	8.8%	99.1%	0.9%
5	Educational Services	1,221	6.1%	98%	2%
6	Health Care and Social Assistance	803	4%	98.6%	1.4%
7	Information	303	1.5%	99.3%	0.7%
8	Administrative and Support and Waste Management and Remediation Services	251	1.3%	98.8%	1.2%
9	Wholesale Trade	189	1%	95.8%	4.2%
10	Retail Trade	141	0.7%	99.3%	0.7%
11	Other Services (except Public Administration)	131	0.7%	97.7%	2.3%
12	Accommodation and Food Services	107	0.5%	100%	0%
13	Real Estate and Rental and Leasing	81	0.4%	100%	0%
14	Construction	63	0.3%	95.2%	4.8%
14	Transportation and Warehousing	63	0.3%	98.4%	1.6%
16	Utilities	40	0.2%	100%	0%
17	Public Administration	25	0.1%	96%	4%
18	Arts, Entertainment, and Recreation	17	0.1%	100%	0%
19	Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing and Hunting	3	0%	100%	0%
20	Mining, Quarrying, and Oil and Gas Extraction	1	0%	100%	0%

Rank	Company Name	Total Petitions	% Approved	% Denied
1	University of Illinois at Urbana-C	321	98.4%	1.6%
2	The University of Chicago	284	99.7%	0.4%
3	Northwestern University	235	98.7%	1.3%
4	Loyola University Chicago	34	100%	0%
5	Chicago Public Schools	33	100%	0%
6	Southern Illinois University Carbondale	29	100%	0%
7	Northern Illinois University	22	100%	0%
8	Depaul University	21	95.2%	4.8%
9	Illinois State University	20	100%	0%
10	Illinois Institute of Technology	16	100%	0%
11	University of Illinois at Chicago	11	100%	0%
12	Concept Schools NFP	10	100%	0%
13	Community Consolidated School District	9	100%	0%
14	Northeastern Illinois University	8	100%	0%
14	Eastern Illinois University	8	100%	0%
14	Resilience Healthcare Chicago Graduate Education Foundation	8	37.5%	62.5%
17	Governors State University	7	100%	0%
17	Western Illinois University	7	100%	0%
19	Augustana College	6	100%	0%
19	Midwestern University	6	100%	0%
21	West Harvey Dixmoor School District 147	5	100%	0%
21	Southern IL University Edwardsville	5	80%	20%
21	Waukegan Community Unit School Dis	5	80%	20%
24	North Park University	4	100%	0%
24	North Chicago Community Unit Schoo	4	100%	0%
24	Quincy University Corporation	4	100%	0%
24	Lycee Francais DE Chicago, Inc.	4	100%	0%
28	Lewis University	3	100%	0%
28	Chicago State University	3	100%	0%
28	Lake Forest College	3	100%	0%
28	Chicago Math and Science Academy	3	100%	0%
28	Rosalind Franklin University of ME	3	100%	0%
33	Garrett Evangelical Theological Seminary	2	50%	50%
33	National Louis University	2	100%	0%
33	Riverside Assessments, LLC	2	100%	0%
33	Illinois College	2	100%	0%
33	Trinity Christian College	2	100%	0%
33	Crystal Lake Community Consolidate	2	100%	0%
33	Moody Bible Institute	2	100%	0%
33	Pan Ethnic International D B a, Inc.	2	100%	0%
33	Montessori Foundations of Chicago, Inc.	2	100%	0%
33	University of Illinois Foundation	2	100%	0%
33	Woodland Community Consolidated School	2	100%	0%
33	Adler University	2	100%	0%
33	Illinois Wesleyan University	2	100%	0%
33	Board of Trustees of Community Col	2	100%	0%
33	German School Chicago NFP	2	100%	0%
33	Southern Illinois University School of Medicine	2	50%	50%
33	Belvidere Community Unit School Di	2	100%	0%
50	The School of the ART Institute of Chicago	1	100%	0%
50	Columbia College Chicago	1	100%	0%
50	Rockford University	1	100%	0%
50	Med Star, Inc.	1	0%	100%
50	Truenorth Educational Cooperative 804	1	100%	0%
50	Belleville Christian School	1	0%	100%
50	Plato Academy, Inc.	1	100%	0%
50	The Monmouth College	1	100%	0%
50	Fenwick High School	1	100%	0%
50	Rockford Public School District 205	1	100%	0%
50	Mckendree University	1	100%	0%
50	Illinois Eastern Community Colleges	1	0%	100%
50	Trinity International University	1	100%	0%
50	Dekalb Community Unit School Distr	1	100%	0%
50	Music Connections Foundation, Inc.	1	100%	0%
50	Perspectives Charter School	1	0%	100%
50	The Benedictine Society of St. Bede	1	100%	0%
50	Epic Academy	1	100%	0%
50	Mchenry County College	1	0%	100%
50	Shepherd Learn, Inc.	1	100%	0%
50	Amerigo Education, LLC	1	100%	0%
50	Judson University	1	100%	0%
50	Valley View C U S D 365u	1	100%	0%
50	The ART Institute of Chicago	1	100%	0%
50	Mater Dei High School	1	100%	0%
50	Greenville University	1	100%	0%
50	Toyota Technological Institute at	1	100%	0%
50	Sageark, LLC	1	100%	0%
50	Altus Academy	1	100%	0%
50	Olivet Nazarene University	1	100%	0%
50	J Sterling Morton High School District	1	100%	0%
50	Teleteachers, Inc.	1	100%	0%
50	Eastern Illinois Area Special Education	1	100%	0%
50	Bradley University	1	100%	0%
50	Rautoul City School District 137	1	100%	0%
50	Mahomet-Seymour School District	1	100%	0%
50	Thinkcerca Com, Inc.	1	100%	0%
50	Community Consolidated School District 54	1	100%	0%
50	Millikin University	1	100%	0%
50	Dominican University	1	100%	0%
50	Start Early	1	100%	0%
50	Wheaton College	1	100%	0%
50	Roosevelt University	1	100%	0%
50	Diamante Montessori School	1	100%	0%
50	North Central College	1	100%	0%
50	Pui Tak Christian School	1	100%	0%