Private vs public high schools in Contra Costa County: UC outcomes side by side (Fall 2025)

Do private or public high schools in Contra Costa County get more students into the UC system?

In Contra Costa County the 6 private high schools with a 2025 UC Reach Score have a median of 50 and a top score of 76 (Bentley School), and the 30 public high schools have a median of 25 and a top score of 63 (Dougherty Valley High School); pooled, private schools show 44.9 UC admits per 100 seniors and public schools 27.6.

Group	Schools with a score	Median UC Reach Score	Top UC Reach Score	UC admits per 100 seniors (pooled)
Private	6	50	76	44.9
Public	30	25	63	27.6

Which private high schools in Contra Costa County have the best UC outcomes?

The highest-scoring private high school in Contra Costa County is Bentley School at 76, and 4 of the 6 private schools in the table publish a tuition figure.

#	School	City	Tuition	UC Reach Score	UC admits 2025	Seniors	Publishes a counted college list
1	Bentley School	Lafayette	—	76	59	78	Yes
2	Carondelet High School	Concord	$26,565 2026-27	55	114	207	No
3	Athenian School	Danville	—	53	49	93	Yes
4	Berean Christian High School	Walnut Creek	$16,500 2026-27	48	46	96	No
5	Salesian College Preparatory	Richmond	$24,550 2026-27	45	43	96	No
6	De La Salle High School	Concord	$27,050 2026-27	23	58	252	No

Which public high schools match them?

The highest-scoring public high school in Contra Costa County is Dougherty Valley High School at 63, and 10 of the top 10 public schools score at or above 23, the score of the 6th private school in the table above.

#	School	City	UC Reach Score	UC admits 2025	Seniors	Publishes a counted college list
1	Dougherty Valley High School	San Ramon	63	528	837	No
2	Miramonte High School	Orinda	57	177	309	No
3	Campolindo High School	Moraga	57	185	324	No
4	Monte Vista High School	Danville	47	243	516	No
5	California High School	San Ramon	46	335	721	No
6	Acalanes High School	Lafayette	46	160	345	No
7	Las Lomas High School	Walnut Creek	44	191	433	No
8	Northgate High School	Walnut Creek	41	156	377	No
9	El Cerrito High School	El Cerrito	39	155	394	No
10	Making Waves Academy	Richmond	38	52	136	No

Does the gap hold at the same GPA?

Among 6 private high schools in Contra Costa County with enough Fall 2024 UC applicants to measure (applicants averaging a 3.93 GPA), 19.5% of applicants were admitted where their GPAs predict 22.1%; among 26 public high schools (applicants averaging a 3.88 GPA), 21.2% were admitted where their GPAs predict 22.1%.

Group	Schools measured	UC applicants 2024	Average applicant GPA	Admitted	Expected at that GPA
Private	6	1,499	3.93	19.5%	22.1%
Public	26	16,117	3.88	21.2%	22.1%

UC publishes applicant GPA a year behind its admit counts, and 2024 is the latest year it covers private schools. "Expected" is the admit rate the statewide curve for each of the six campuses predicts from a school's applicant GPA, summed over its applicants; the same method as the GPA-performance table on the rankings. Only schools with at least 30 applications across at least three campuses are measured.

What families are also buying at a private school

Parents are not only shopping for college outcomes. The tables above count UC admits, and a high school is also four years of a teenager's days: who they spend them with, what the school asks them to value, and whether the adults know them.

Families who choose a private school in Contra Costa County are usually weighing some of these:

Community and values fit. A private school sets its own mission and expectations, and the application, the entrance exam and the interview work as a fit signal in both directions. Of the 6 private schools here with an affiliation on file, 4 are religiously affiliated and 2 are nonsectarian.
Class size. The National Center for Education Statistics' Private School Survey (2022) lists 5 of these private schools at 8.4 to 14.7 students per teacher.
Size of the school. The 6 private schools here with an enrollment count on file enrolled 293 to 1,025 students, with a median of 478.
Advising. Each private school builds its own college-advising model, so the useful question is how many students each counselor carries and how early the work starts.
Arts and athletics access. A smaller school can mean more students on each team and in each production; ask each school what participation looks like.

Public schools are a great choice when a family cannot afford a private school, and the public table above shows how each of them does with UC admissions.

Every school in Contra Costa County is on the Contra Costa County school list; the county rankings rank them against each other. Other counties are on the private vs public index, and a single private school can be set beside its nearest strong public school on the worth-the-tuition pages.

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. "Public" means district and charter schools with at least 100 seniors, as in the rankings (online, independent-study and alternative programs are left out); private schools of any size are included. Pooled admits per 100 seniors adds each group's admits and divides by its seniors; a "~" marks a senior count the data estimates. Schools with no UC admit counts for 2025 are not in either group. Tuition comes from each school's own admissions pages and is shown only where the school publishes it. A school "publishes a counted college list" when its own published list carries a count beside each college. The list excludes nonclassroom-based online schools and schools the California Department of Education records with no 12th grade.