Private high schools

Best private boarding high schools in California, ranked by college outcomes

17 private boarding high schools in California have a profile page on Reach, and 14 of them have a UC Reach Score for 2025. The highest score is 144, at The Webb Schools, from 145 UC admits counted at each campus for 101 seniors. Tuition runs from $29,000 to $87,430 among the 7 that publish it. 8 publish a college list with counts.

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Which private boarding high schools in California have the best college outcomes?

Among the 14 private boarding high schools in California with a 2025 UC Reach Score, The Webb Schools ranks first at 144, followed by Robert L Stevenson High School (95) and Santa Catalina School (76).

# School City Grades Tuition Entrance exam Application deadline UC Reach Score UC admits 2025 Seniors Publishes a counted college list Top 3 named colleges
1 The Webb Schools Claremont 9–12 $87,430
2026-27
 None required Jan 15, 2027 144 145 101 Yes New York University, University of Southern California, Boston University
2 Robert L Stevenson High School Pebble Beach — — ISEE or SSAT — 95 126 132 Yes University of Colorado Boulder, New York University, University of California, Berkeley
3 Santa Catalina School Monterey PreK–12 $48,925
2026-27
 Optional Dec 4, 2026 76 29 38 Yes Northeastern University, California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, University of Southern California
4 Woodside Priory School Portola Valley 6–12 — School's own test Jan 5, 2027 70 52 74 Yes UC Berkeley, Stanford University, Cornell University
5 San Domenico School San Anselmo K–12 $69,650
2026-27
 None required Dec 1, 2026 64 60 94 No —
6 Archbishop Riordan High School San Francisco 9–12 $29,000
2026-27
 HSPT Nov 20, 2026 59 164 280 No —
7 Athenian School Danville 6–12 — ISEE or SSAT Jan 8, 2027 53 49 93 Yes University of California, Berkeley, Boston University, Occidental College
8 Cate School Carpinteria 9–12 — ISEE or SSAT Jan 15, 2027 51 37 73 Yes University of California, Berkeley, University of Chicago, New York University
9 Monte Vista Christian High School Watsonville 4–12 — None posted — 40 49 121 No —
10 Ojai Valley School Ojai — $37,000
2026-27
 None posted Jan 15, 2027 38 8 21 No —
11 Thacher School the Ojai 9–12 — ISEE or SSAT Jan 15, 2027 25 16 65 Yes Colorado College, New York University, University of California - Berkeley
12 Army and Navy Academy Carlsbad 7–12 $62,000
2026-27
 None posted — 23 14 60 No —
13 Dunn School Los Olivos 6–12 — Optional Feb 1, 2027 23 7 31 Yes California Poly San Luis Obispo, Loyola Marymount University, Northeastern University
14 Idyllwild Arts Academy Idyllwild 9–12 — None posted Nov 10, 2026 22 20 89 No —

Also in California

3 more private boarding high schools have a page here but no 2025 UC Reach Score, listed alphabetically.

School City Grades Tuition Entrance exam Application deadline UC Reach Score UC admits 2025 Seniors Publishes a counted college list Top 3 named colleges
Besant Hill School of Happy Valley Ojai 9–12 — — — — — — No —
Midland School Los Olivos 9–12 $83,900
2026-27
 Optional — — — — No —
Villanova Preparatory School Ojai 6–12 — Optional — — 20 — No —

What does tuition cost at private boarding high schools in California?

7 of the 17 private boarding high schools publish tuition: the lowest is $29,000 at Archbishop Riordan High School and the highest is $87,430 at The Webb Schools, with a median of $62,000.

Which entrance exam do private boarding high schools in California require?

16 of the 17 private boarding high schools have an entrance-exam entry on file; by exam: ISEE or SSAT, 4; None posted, 4; Optional, 4; None required, 2; HSPT, 1; School's own test, 1. Each school's exam, test dates and source page are on the entrance exams in California page.

When are applications due at private boarding high schools in California?

11 of the 17 private boarding high schools have an upcoming application deadline on file: the earliest is Idyllwild Arts Academy on Nov 10, 2026 and the latest is Dunn School on Feb 1, 2027.

The earliest 10 of 11 upcoming deadlines.

Other metros are on the private high schools by metro index, and every California private school's tuition is ranked on the tuition page. For public and charter schools too, use the county index or the California high school rankings.

UC Reach Score is top-6 UC admits per 100 seniors in 2025, counted at each campus, so a student admitted to several campuses counts at each; a dash means the University of California published no admit counts for that school. Tuition, entrance exam, grades and application deadline come from each school's own admissions pages and are shown only where the school publishes them; deadlines already past are omitted. A school "publishes a counted college list" when its own published list carries a count beside each college; the three colleges shown are the three with the largest counts on that list. The list excludes nonclassroom-based online schools and schools the California Department of Education records with no 12th grade. Boarding schools are those the boarding directory (TABS member list) flags, plus a hand-checked list of California schools with a boarding program.