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

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

In San Bernardino County the 6 private high schools with a 2025 UC Reach Score have a median of 12 and a top score of 67 (Orion International Academy), and the 54 public high schools have a median of 13 and a top score of 55 (Cobalt Institute of Math and Science Academy); pooled, private schools show 15.3 UC admits per 100 seniors and public schools 15.2.

Group	Schools with a score	Median UC Reach Score	Top UC Reach Score	UC admits per 100 seniors (pooled)
Private	6	12	67	15.3
Public	54	13	55	15.2

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

The highest-scoring private high school in San Bernardino County is Orion International Academy at 67, 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	Orion International Academy	Chino	$18,000	67	16	24	No
2	Aquinas High School	San Bernardino	$8,950 2026-27	26	36	137	No
3	United Christian Academy	Rancho Cucamonga	$15,400 2026-27	14	6	43	No
4	Ontario Christian High School	Ontario	$16,358 2026-27	10	12	117	No
5	Arrowhead Christian Academy	Redlands	—	6	6	106	No
6	Loma Linda Academy	Loma Linda	—	4	4	96	No

Which public high schools match them?

The highest-scoring public high school in San Bernardino County is Cobalt Institute of Math and Science Academy at 55, and 10 of the top 10 public schools score at or above 4, 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	Cobalt Institute of Math and Science Academy	Victorville	55	96	175	No
2	Ruben S Ayala High School	Chino Hills	45	300	669	No
3	Redlands High School	Redlands	40	206	521	No
4	University Preparatory	Victorville	38	66	173	No
5	Chino Hills High School	Chino Hills	29	218	744	No
6	Los Osos High School	Rancho Cucamonga	27	191	698	No
7	Rancho Cucamonga High School	Rancho Cucamonga	22	169	769	No
8	Pacific High School	San Bernardino	21	53	255	No
9	Upland High School	Upland	19	135	723	No
10	Wilmer Amina Carter High School	Rialto	18	91	492	No

Does the gap hold at the same GPA?

Among 5 private high schools in San Bernardino County with enough Fall 2024 UC applicants to measure (applicants averaging a 3.90 GPA), 27.4% of applicants were admitted where their GPAs predict 23.9%; among 47 public high schools (applicants averaging a 3.81 GPA), 25.4% were admitted where their GPAs predict 21.5%.

Group	Schools measured	UC applicants 2024	Average applicant GPA	Admitted	Expected at that GPA
Private	5	452	3.90	27.4%	23.9%
Public	47	15,753	3.81	25.4%	21.5%

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 San Bernardino 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, 5 are religiously affiliated and 1 is nonsectarian.
Class size. The National Center for Education Statistics' Private School Survey (2022) lists 3 of these private schools at 15.0 to 16.1 students per teacher.
Size of the school. The 6 private schools here with an enrollment count on file enrolled 124 to 1,261 students, with a median of 785.
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 San Bernardino County is on the San Bernardino 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.