Blog · Who feeds which college · October 2, 2026
The high school that sends the most students to USC is Orange County School of the Arts
- Orange County School of the Arts sends 23 students per class year to the University of Southern California. That is first of 201 schools whose published lists name the University of Southern California. Its list covers the Class of 2026.
- Mira Costa High School in Manhattan Beach is second, with 17 students per class year.
- Eight of the 10 schools at the top of the list are in California. The other two are in New York and Maryland.
- On the acceptances side, a separate list, Mira Costa High School is first with 39 admissions per class year.
Every number here comes from a high school's own published matriculation list. A matriculation list is where a school says its graduates enrolled. We use the counts exactly as each school printed them, and the class years exactly as each school states them. Then we rank the schools for each graduating class.
The school at the top
Orange County School of the Arts is in Santa Ana, California. Its published list names 23 graduates at the University of Southern California. The school labels that list "Class of 2026." Because the list covers one class year, the number per class year is also 23. Per class year means the school's printed count divided by the class years its list covers.
The 10 schools with the most graduates per class year
| Rank | High school | City, State | Type | Students per class year | Count as printed | Class years (the school's words) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Orange County School of the Arts | Santa Ana, CA | public | 23.0 | 23 | Class of 2026 |
| 2 | Mira Costa High School | Manhattan Beach, CA | public | 17.0 | 17 | Class of 2026 |
| 3 | Palo Alto Senior High School | Palo Alto, CA | public | 11.0 | 11 | 2023, 2024, 2025, 2026 (counted column: 2026) |
| 4 | Crossroads School | Santa Monica, CA | private | 9.0 | 27 | classes of 2023-25 |
| 5 | California School of the Arts — San Gabriel Valley | Duarte, CA | public | 9.0 | 9 | Class of 2026 (counted column: Matriculation (Class of 2026)) |
| 6 | Harvard-Westlake School | Studio City, CA | private | 9.0 | 9 | BY THE CLASSES OF 2021-2025 (counted column: CLASS OF '25) |
| 7 | Henry M. Gunn High School | Palo Alto, CA | public | 9.0 | 9 | 2025 |
| 8 | Valley Christian High School | San Jose, CA | private | 7.0 | 14 | Class of 2024 & 2025 |
| 9 | Avenues New York | New York, NY | private | 7.0 | 7 | CLASSES OF 2023–2026 (counted column: CLASS OF 2026) |
| 10 | Bullis School | Potomac, MD | private | 7.0 | 7 | Class of 2026 |
What the top of the list looks like
Most of these schools are near the college. Eight of the 10 are in California. One is in New York and one is in Maryland.
The gap at the top is wide. Orange County School of the Arts prints 23 per class year. Mira Costa High School prints 17. Palo Alto Senior High School, at third, prints 11. After that the numbers sit in single digits.
In two rows, the count as printed covers more than one class year. Crossroads School prints 27 graduates across the classes of 2023-25, which is 9 per class year. Valley Christian High School prints 14 across the Class of 2024 and the Class of 2025, which is 7 per class year.
About schools that are not here
A school that is not on the list did not publish a numbered matriculation list we could read. That is all absence means. It is never a statement about its graduates. Enrolled lists and admitted lists are also never mixed. An enrolled list counts graduates who went to the college. An admitted list counts every college that admitted them, so those lists are ranked on their own.
See the full lists
The full USC feeder board has the top 25 schools plus the acceptances section. The USC college page has the rest.
Boards as of October 2, 2026. Schools publish new lists every fall, so the live board is the current ranking.