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

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

In Sacramento County the 8 private high schools with a 2025 UC Reach Score have a median of 23 and a top score of 93 (Sacramento Country Day School), and the 39 public high schools have a median of 14 and a top score of 82 (West Campus High School); pooled, private schools show 36.1 UC admits per 100 seniors and public schools 19.0.

Group	Schools with a score	Median UC Reach Score	Top UC Reach Score	UC admits per 100 seniors (pooled)
Private	8	23	93	36.1
Public	39	14	82	19.0

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

The highest-scoring private high school in Sacramento County is Sacramento Country Day School at 93, and 5 of the 8 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	Sacramento Country Day School	Sacramento	$37,640 2026-27	93	42	45	No
2	Saint Francis Catholic High School	Sacramento	$18,080 2026-27	54	109	201	Yes
3	Jesuit High School	Carmichael	$20,100 2026-27	37	74	199	No
4	Christian Brothers High School	Sacramento	$17,675 2026-27	30	70	236	No
5	Cristo Rey High School-Sacramento	Sacramento	—	17	13	75	No
6	Al Arqam Coll Preparatory School	Sacramento	—	14	3	21	No
7	Sacramento Adventist Academy	Carmichael	—	9	4	43	No
8	Destiny Christian Academy	Sacramento	$13,450 2026-27	6	4	63	No

Which public high schools match them?

The highest-scoring public high school in Sacramento County is West Campus High School at 82, and 10 of the top 10 public schools score at or above 6, the score of the 8th private school in the table above.

#	School	City	UC Reach Score	UC admits 2025	Seniors	Publishes a counted college list
1	West Campus High School	Sacramento	82	180	219	No
2	Mira Loma High School	Sacramento	45	178	392	No
3	Cosumnes Oaks High School	Elk Grove	42	231	549	No
4	Vista Del Lago High School	Folsom	41	169	409	No
5	Westlake Charter	Sacramento	38	43	113	No
6	Natomas Pacific Pathways Prep	Sacramento	29	42	143	No
7	Natomas Charter School	Sacramento	29	37	127	No
8	Inderkum High School	Sacramento	29	145	508	No
9	C K McClatchy High School	Sacramento	28	164	596	No
10	Franklin High School	Elk Grove	27	181	675	No

Does the gap hold at the same GPA?

Among 4 private high schools in Sacramento County with enough Fall 2024 UC applicants to measure (applicants averaging a 3.96 GPA), 23.5% of applicants were admitted where their GPAs predict 22.3%; among 27 public high schools (applicants averaging a 3.87 GPA), 26.1% were admitted where their GPAs predict 23.0%.

Group	Schools measured	UC applicants 2024	Average applicant GPA	Admitted	Expected at that GPA
Private	4	1,004	3.96	23.5%	22.3%
Public	27	9,499	3.87	26.1%	23.0%

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 Sacramento 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 7 private schools here with an affiliation on file, 6 are religiously affiliated and 1 is nonsectarian.
Class size. The National Center for Education Statistics' Private School Survey (2022) lists 4 of these private schools at 6.6 to 16.3 students per teacher.
Size of the school. The 8 private schools here with an enrollment count on file enrolled 351 to 1,132 students, with a median of 612.
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 Sacramento County is on the Sacramento 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.