Illinois PaCE mandate
Illinois Postsecondary and Career Expectations (PaCE) Framework with Individualized Learning Plans
105 ILCS 5/10-20.84 requires districts to adopt a PaCE framework with Career Interest Surveys and individualized learning plans for all students, grades 6–12 (deadline July 1, 2025).
In Brief
Illinois's PaCE (Postsecondary and Career Expectations) mandate is a district-level framework adoption rather than a single tool purchase. Every district must design and implement a local PaCE framework that substantially aligns to the state model. The framework must include career exploration and development activities, postsecondary education exploration and preparation, financial aid literacy, and a Career Interest Survey or Interest Profiler for every student. Illinois also expects each student to have an individualized learning plan within that framework, addressing career and postsecondary decisions for grades 6–12.
The framework approach gives districts flexibility: they can build custom solutions tailored to their community. However, it also means that by July 1, 2025, every Illinois district must demonstrate a coherent, documented PaCE program. JobCannon's assessments—especially the RIASEC and Career Match batteries—can be the tested, evidence-based foundation of a district's PaCE framework, satisfying the Career Interest Survey requirement and providing the assessment data that individualized learning plans demand.
What PaCE actually requires
Checked against 105 ILCS 5/10-20.84, not against a category description.
Recommended assessment battery for Illinois districts
Sequenced across the 7th-12th grade arc.
Who Illinois districts already use for PaCE
Real tools and workarounds we found in use for PaCE compliance — not a hypothetical shortlist.
Illinois PaCE Framework and Career Planning Requirements
Related on JobCannon
This page is one of 38 verified career-plan mandate pages JobCannon tracks, each citing a primary statute or regulation — for the Illinois PaCE mandate that source is 105 ILCS 5/10-20.84 - Illinois School Code. For the broader rollout picture, see career assessments for school districts, or the JobCannon for Business hub.
District-tier pricing
Scale is $199/mo and covers 200 people per billing period — one person, however many assessments they take, and a class-code arrival counts the same as an emailed invite. Growth is $999/mo for 1,000. Above that, or where enrolment should not be metered at all, it is an Enterprise conversation rather than a larger self-serve plan. A district-sized enrolment runs out of the monthly tiers quickly — the Education Licence below prices your whole enrolment per student for the year, assessments uncapped, and adds the full career and skills corpus.
Free
For micro-teams trying the platform
- ▸10 candidate invites/month (resets the 1st of each month)
- ▸All 164+ assessments
- ▸Premium result for every candidate you invite
- ▸Every candidate profile fully open — nothing blurred
- ▸Share link via email or Slack
- ▸Free trial of the coordinator dashboard
Starter
For solo coaches and small HR
- ▸30 candidates/mo included; extra candidates are $2 each
- ▸All 164+ assessments
- ▸Premium report (archetype + blind spots + work-style brief)
- ▸Coach notes per candidate
- ▸PDF export (client-ready)
- ▸Session prep recommendations
- ▸Candidate progress tracking
Team
For startups, teams and HR
- ▸80 candidates/mo included; extra candidates are $2 each
- ▸Everything in Starter
- ▸Team DNA dashboard
- ▸Compatibility matrix
- ▸Conflict-pattern detection
- ▸Compare 2-3 team members
- ▸Manager prep briefings
- ▸Shared admin access (2 seats)
Scale
For agencies, L&D and scale-ups
- ▸200 candidates/mo included; extra candidates are $2 each
- ▸Everything in Team
- ▸Integrity + social-desirability scales (fake-good detection)
- ▸White-label PDFs (your logo)
- ▸Full assessment API (start, score, retrieve results)
- ▸Custom assessment builder (beta)
- ▸Admin seats not billed per seat
- ▸Priority email support
Growth
For high-volume screening without a contract
- ▸1,000 candidates/mo included; extra candidates are $2 each
- ▸Everything in Scale
- ▸Invoice / PO billing, not just card
- ▸Named support contact with a response-time target
- ▸Annual billing option
Enterprise
For 200+ person companies
- ▸Candidate volume set in your contract, all assessments
- ▸Everything in Scale
- ▸SLA (99.9% uptime)
- ▸Dedicated Customer Success
- ▸Custom integrations built against your tenant (Greenhouse and Ashby ship today)
- ▸Annual billing, invoice payments
Self-serve checkout via Stripe — major cards, Apple Pay, Google Pay, Link. Cancel anytime; 14-day money-back on every paid plan. Enterprise via the contact form below.
Education Licence — priced per student, per year
One rate per enrolled student for the academic year, sized for Illinois district or school-level PaCE rollouts. Assessments uncapped, career and skills corpus included — multiply your own enrolment by the band and you have the most this can cost before you talk to us.
$1.25 down to $0.80 per student, per year — assessments uncapped
That multiplication is a ceiling, not a bill. If our self-serve plans would cover the same number of students for less, you are quoted the lower figure — we do not sell an institution its own students back at a higher price than anyone can buy them for on the pricing page.
District
A large school, multi-school district or trust
per year
- ▸Every assessment in the catalogue, retakes included, no per-assessment charge
- ▸Cohort dashboard with cross-school and year-over-year comparison
- ▸Full career and skills corpus — 2,521 careers, 1,863 skills
- ▸Read the corpus live over the API, or take a versioned snapshot
- ▸Named contact, quote letter formatted for procurement
College or university
A university, college or college group
per year
- ▸Every assessment in the catalogue, retakes included, no per-assessment charge
- ▸Cohort dashboard with cross-school and year-over-year comparison
- ▸Full career and skills corpus — 2,521 careers, 1,863 skills
- ▸Read the corpus live over the API, or take a versioned snapshot
- ▸Named contact, quote letter formatted for procurement
State system
A statewide or national programme
per year
- ▸Every assessment in the catalogue, retakes included, no per-assessment charge
- ▸Cohort dashboard with cross-school and year-over-year comparison
- ▸Full career and skills corpus — 2,521 careers, 1,863 skills
- ▸Read the corpus live over the API, or take a versioned snapshot
- ▸Named contact, quote letter formatted for procurement
£350 per school, per year — a flat whole-school licence rather than a per-student rate, because that is the unit UK schools budget in. Same uncapped assessments and same corpus. Excludes VAT.
The ladder starts at 1,301 students. Below that a self-serve plan already covers your whole roll for less than a licence would, so that is what we will point you at — and UK schools have the flat whole-school licence above at any size. Bands are by enrolment, and the rate applies to your whole roll rather than to a seat count you have to predict. Invoiced annually against a purchase order; no per-assessment charge and nothing to top up mid-year. Assessing an institution's enrolled students is covered by the Education Licence, not by a hiring plan. What is in the corpus.
Request a Illinois district pilot
Tell us how many students you expect to assess in a term and what your review process asks for. If something on your requirements list is not in the product, we will say so in the reply rather than in the pilot.
Illinois does not name a specific tool, only that a Career Interest Survey or Interest Profiler is required. JobCannon's RIASEC and Career Match are both validated interest-profiling instruments that satisfy this requirement. Paired with the printable results, they serve as both the assessment and the documentation of interest profiling your district must show.
Career assessment results reveal each student's interests, skills, and aptitudes. JobCannon's printable Career Guide provides the foundational data; advisors and students use these results to identify career clusters of interest, research postsecondary pathways aligned to those clusters, and then map out courses and experiences that build toward those goals. This becomes the individualized learning plan.
Most Illinois districts have until July 1, 2025 to adopt and implement a PaCE framework (Chicago Public Schools had to meet the deadline July 1, 2024). Your framework documentation, including career interest survey process and individualized learning plan procedures, must be posted on the district website by that date. Starting now with JobCannon assessments helps you meet this timeline.
Illinois does not require one tool across all grades. Many districts use a simpler interest profiler in grades 6–8 (like Career Match) and a more comprehensive assessment in grades 9–12 (like RIASEC). JobCannon's battery allows this progression, ensuring age-appropriate depth at each stage.
Post a clear, accessible summary of your framework: what the Career Interest Survey is and when students take it, how individualized learning plans are developed and updated, how students and parents access their results, and how the framework aligns to the state model. JobCannon's program, results, and process become part of that public-facing documentation, showing transparency and compliance.
Illinois does not mandate a single statewide platform or vendor—the statute requires districts to adopt and implement their own local PaCE framework within state-aligned guidelines, allowing districts to select tools that best fit their community and capacity.