Orange County School of the Arts
Santa Ana · Orange County · Magnet/Charter · High school
Shareable scorecard →Compare with peers
Most similar nearby schools
Santa Ana High School → Valley High School → La Quinta High School → Foothill High School → Orange High School → Compare all similar →A parent's read
- Where graduates go: #1 feeder school to USC; top 10 for UCLA and UC Berkeley. Orange County School of the Arts's own list (Class of 2026), enrolled: USC (23), UC Berkeley (20), Orange Coast College (16), Chapman (15), UCLA (14). Feeder standing: #1 USC, #2 UCLA, #3 UC Berkeley, #7 Carnegie Mellon, #7 Loyola Marymount University, #8 Northwestern.
- The UC pipeline here is real. 378 admissions to the top six UC campuses for a class of 393 seniors puts this school in the top handful of schools in California.
- Where grads land in the UC system: Berkeley. Within the UC system, more graduates enroll at Berkeley than any other campus — and with Berkeley and UCLA admitting just 82 of this class's 1,133 UC applications, those seats are genuinely hard-won.
- 9 in 10 graduates leave eligible for UC and CSU. 88% finish the A-G courses California's universities require before a student can even apply — most California schools manage about 6 in 10.
- One question for any counselor: who should still test? Plenty of strong students skip the SAT/ACT now — but merit scholarships at dozens of colleges still key off scores. Ask how the school decides who should still sit for one.
Composed from this page's data — every claim is backed by a number in the sections below.
Where graduates go — as published by the school
Orange County School of the Arts publishes where its graduates enrolled (Class of 2026): 130 colleges with per-college counts — the largest counts enrolled at University of Southern California (23), University of California - Berkeley (20), Orange Coast College (16). See the full list ↓
Feeder standing #1 feeder to University of Southern California, Chapman University, Emerson College · #2 to University of California-Los Angeles, #3 to University of California-Berkeley, #7 to Carnegie Mellon University, #8 to Northwestern University — from its own published counts, ranked per class year
Their published matriculation list
Where the Class of 2026 enrolled
Orange County School of the Arts publishes where its graduates enrolled. What follows is copied from that document — 130 colleges, ordered by the number of students enrolled.
The ten largest counts, enrolled · Class of 2026
Is my kid's college on this list?
The school down the road: La Quinta High School
| College | Orange County School of the Arts | La Quinta High School |
|---|---|---|
| Boston University | ✓ named | — |
| Carnegie Mellon University | ✓ named | — |
| Columbia University | ✓ named | — |
| Cornell University | ✓ named | ✓ named |
| Dartmouth College | ✓ named | — |
| Emory University | ✓ named | — |
| Georgia Institute of Technology | ✓ named | — |
| Harvard College | ✓ named | — |
| Johns Hopkins University | ✓ named | ✓ named |
| MIT | — | ✓ named |
| New York University | ✓ named | — |
| Northeastern University | ✓ named | — |
Both schools print names, not counts, so this shows which selective colleges each list names.
All 130 colleges, as the document prints them
College · Students
and 100 more
These graduates went on to the colleges above.
Check your kid's odds at these colleges →We'll load the 10 colleges the class chose most often — add your name, email and your child's numbers and we'll see where your child lands at each.
Independently verified As published by Orange County School of the Arts — Academic Profile 2026-27 ↗. Found at: page 4, "MATRICULATION" section.
Keep this page current
Work at Orange County School of the Arts? If this page is missing your newest school profile, matriculation list, or college acceptances, send us the links. We read the document, copy the figures exactly as published, and cite it on this page.
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Where grads go — and what it costs & pays
UC admits by campus · Class of 2025
Getting in is step one. The cost above is the average aid-receiving family's net price — yours depends on whether you qualify for aid — and your child's odds depend on their GPA + scores. See your family's real numbers at these campuses:
Get my child's odds + our real costs →Sources: UC Office of the President (admits); IPEDS net price + College Scorecard 10-yr earnings (cost & payoff). Full campus-by-campus breakdown below.
California College-Going Rate
90.2% of the 2022-23 graduating class enrolled in college within a year.
The share of 2022-23 graduates who enrolled at a college anywhere in the U.S. within 12 months, per the National Student Clearinghouse match the California Department of Education publishes.
Give the same class four more months and 91.2% had enrolled — CDE publishes a 16-month window alongside the 12-month one, 362 students.
Up 1.4 points from the 2021-22 class (88.8%).
Where the 2022-23 class enrolled
In California — 256 students (64.5%)
Out of state — 102 students (25.7%)
CDE puts each graduate in one bucket only — whichever kind of college they were enrolled in longest — so these add up to the rate above. That is a different count from the UC Reach Score on this page, which counts a student at every UC campus that admitted them.
Source: California Department of Education, College-Going Rate (DataQuest) ↗, cohort 2022-23, posted 17-Sep-2025. Data file: cgr12mo23.txt ↗ (and the 16-month file ↗). CDE builds the rate by matching California high school completers to National Student Clearinghouse enrollment records; we publish CDE’s aggregates and hold no student-level data.
How Orange County School of the Arts compares for families
One of California's strongest schools for college outcomes.
- ▸ StatewideUC Reach Score of 96 — 77 points above the California median of 19. Ahead of 99% of California high schools.
- ▸ Locally🎓 Top 5% in California on UC Reach — plus 5 more top-ranks.
- ▸ vs Similar SchoolsBeats the peer median (UC Reach Score 96 vs a 20 median) across the 5 most similar nearby schools.
For Parents
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Objective, government-grade data — no school pays us for placement.
SBAC academic outcomes — grade 11, 2025
Share of grade-11 students meeting or exceeding the California standard on Smarter Balanced ELA and Math. This is the academic-readiness signal that pairs with UC Reach (post-grad outcomes), stability (retention), and absenteeism (engagement). Note: statewide median Math is only ~20% — a school at 20% isn't an outlier; one at 45%+ genuinely is.
Source: California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress (CAASPP) Smarter Balanced research files. Benchmarks limited to non-virtual public & charter HS with ≥30 tested students.
Student composition — 2025-26
HS grades 9–12 racial/ethnic composition and program subgroups, from CDE Census Day Enrollment. Two-year shift shown when ≥1 pt — surfaces how the community served has changed since 2023-24.
Race / ethnicity
Program subgroups
Source: California Department of Education, Census Day Enrollment 2025-26 (HS grades 9–12). Δ shown when shift is ≥1 pt since 2023-24. Categories below 0.5% omitted.
Chronic absenteeism — 2024-25
Share of students missing 10% or more of expected attendance — the leading indicator that often precedes the demand decline shown above. Families disengaging tend to raise absenteeism first, then formally leave. Basis: grades 9–12.
Absenteeism is up 13.8 pp since 2020-21. A rising absenteeism trend often precedes formal departure — worth investigating which subgroups are driving it.
Source: California Department of Education, Chronic Absenteeism 2024-25. Benchmarks limited to non-virtual public & charter HS with ≥100 eligible students. CDE didn't publish a usable 2019-20 file (COVID).
Enrollment trend & projection
If this trend holds (+7.2%/yr, Total enrollment)
At per-pupil funding of $ / student:
| Horizon | Projected Total enrollment | Change | Funding impact / yr |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 yr (2027) | ~2,052 | +137 | $0 |
| 3 yr (2029) | ~2,356 | +441 | $0 |
| 5 yr (2031) | ~2,706 | +791 | $0 |
Straight-line extrapolation of the recent annual rate — a what-if, not a forecast of intent. Default = California's LCFF base grant for grades 9–12 ($12,423/ADA). Edit the figure to match your school.
How does Orange County School of the Arts really compare on getting kids to college?
We've ranked it #1 of 11 most similar nearby schools on UC Reach. Unlock the full snapshot to see the head-to-head — who's ahead, by how much, and where it's heading.
Your similar-school group includes
Santa Ana High School · Valley High · La Quinta High · Foothill High · Orange High School · El Modena High School · +4 more
Enrollment stability & demand — 2024-25
Two complementary signals: retention (do students stay once enrolled?) and demand (are families choosing the school?). Read against the Orange County baseline — the demographic tide is moving every CA HS, so a school's gap vs. county is the actionable signal.
Orange County School of the Arts outperformed Orange County on enrollment (school +46.1% vs. county -9.3%) AND maintains 97.4% stability. Replicable model — worth documenting what's working.
48 of 1,822 students who enrolled at Orange County School of the Arts this year didn't maintain continuous enrollment (2.6% non-stability). Mid-year transfers, dropouts, and other exits are all counted.
Stability by student group
Nearest peer high schools
Source: California Department of Education, Stability Rate 2024-25. Benchmarks limited to non-virtual public & charter HS with ≥100 cumulative enrollees so by-design-high-churn continuation schools don't dominate the bottom of the distribution. Cumulative enrollment counts every student on the rolls during the year, so it can exceed peak-day enrollment.
Orange County School of the Arts sent 1,133 applications to the six most selective University of California campuses and 33.4% were admitted, producing a UC Reach Score of 96 (top-6 UC admits per 100 seniors, counting a student at each campus that admitted them) — 77 points above the California median of 19, higher than 99% of California high schools. The school produces 20.9 UCLA + UC Berkeley admits per 100 seniors.
19
53
96
Higher than 99% of California high schools (1105 ranked, ≥50 seniors)
Orange County School of the Arts's UC Reach Score of 96 clears the statewide top-10% cutoff (53) — meaning roughly 96 top-6 UC admits per 100 seniors, well above what most California schools achieve.
In Orange County — a competitive market where the median is already 25 — this still clears the county top-10% bar (70).
This places Orange County School of the Arts in the elite tier statewide — the top-1% threshold is 95.
Overall, Orange County School of the Arts's UC Reach is higher than 99% of California high schools (1105 ranked).
GPA figures reflect 2024 — UC has not yet released applicant/admit GPA for 2025.
UC funnel — which kids are getting in at what GPA
Combining the school's applicant pool GPA, admit pool GPA, actual admit rate, and statewide CA admit rates by individual GPA band, we can read which GPA tiers tend to get in — and which don't.
| Campus | 4.00+ GPA | 3.70–3.99 GPA | 3.30–3.69 GPA | < 3.30 GPA |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| UC Berkeley | Real shot | Long odds | Filtered out | Filtered out |
| UCLA | Real shot | Long odds | Filtered out | Filtered out |
| UC San Diego | Strong shot | Real shot | Long odds | Filtered out |
| UC Santa Barbara | Strong shot | Moderate | Long odds | Filtered out |
| UC Irvine | Strong shot | Real shot | Long odds | Filtered out |
| UC Davis | Strong shot | Real shot | Moderate | Filtered out |
The numbers behind it
| Campus | Applicant GPA | Admit GPA | Lift ⓘ | Admit rate | vs peer schools @ same GPA ⓘ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UC Berkeley | 4.00 | 4.16 | +0.16 | 15.4% | Peers +0.23 · wider |
| UCLA | 3.98 | 4.14 | +0.16 | 18.6% | Peers +0.27 · wider |
| UC San Diego | 3.95 | 4.06 | +0.11 | 37.4% | Peers +0.28 · wider |
| UC Santa Barbara | 3.93 | 4.04 | +0.11 | 41.9% | Peers +0.29 · wider |
| UC Irvine | 3.91 | 4.00 | +0.09 | 52.3% | Peers +0.26 · wider |
| UC Davis | 3.86 | 3.96 | +0.10 | 44.6% | Peers +0.27 · wider |
Statewide CA admit rates by individual GPA band, 2024 (for reference)
| GPA band | UCB | UCLA | UCSD | UCSB | UCI | UCD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4.00+ | 17.1% | 14.4% | 43.5% | 57.3% | 46.0% | 64.1% |
| 3.70–3.99 | 2.8% | 1.5% | 11.2% | 9.2% | 16.5% | 27.5% |
| 3.30–3.69 | 0.8% | 0.9% | 1.4% | 2.3% | 3.4% | 9.1% |
| 3.00–3.29 | 0.5% | 0.4% | 0.1% | 0.5% | 0.4% | 2.1% |
| < 3.00 | 0.6% | 0.2% | 0.2% | 0.5% | 0.3% | 0.6% |
Where Orange County School of the Arts sits vs. all California schools ⓘ
Overall, this school admits its UC applicants 13.3 points above what their GPAs predict (33.3% actual vs. 20.1% expected), based on 2024 data.
UC Outcomes Trend — 2018–2025
Class size from CDE grade 12 enrollment. Campus-level data: applicant and admit totals count a student once at EACH campus. A senior admitted to UCLA and UC San Diego adds 2 to the admit total, so the total can exceed the senior class — that is the metric working as defined, not an error. The admit RATE is unaffected: both its numerator and denominator are campus-level.
Campus Breakdown — 2025
| Campus | Applicants | Admits | Enrollees | Admit Rate | UC Reach Score | Yield | Avg GPA (App) '24 | Avg GPA (Adm) '24 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UC Berkeley → Elite | 192 | 44 | 21 | 22.9% | 11 | 47.7% | 4.00 | 4.16 |
| UCLA → Elite | 240 | 38 | 15 | 15.8% | 10 | 39.5% | 3.98 | 4.14 |
| UC San Diego → Selective | 210 | 65 | 14 | 31.0% | 17 | 21.5% | 3.95 | 4.06 |
| UC Santa Barbara → Selective | 180 | 79 | 10 | 43.9% | 20 | 12.7% | 3.93 | 4.04 |
| UC Irvine → Selective | 191 | 89 | 11 | 46.6% | 23 | 12.4% | 3.91 | 4.00 |
| UC Davis → | 120 | 63 | 5 | 52.5% | 16 | 7.9% | 3.86 | 3.96 |
What This Means
For School Admins
The full Reach Report for Orange County School of the Arts
A board- and LCAP-ready intelligence brief: your enrollment retention and college outcomes, benchmarked against your closest competitors, with a 5-year forecast, concrete steps to act on, and the rigor + outcomes story you can share with your families. Built from primary public data — prepared for you, not auto-generated.
- ✓Your UC Reach Score (96) ranked head-to-head against your closest competitor schools
- ✓Your 5-year enrollment forecast (currently 7.2%/yr) with the revenue at stake
- ✓Student-retention benchmarking vs your county median — and the LCAP evidence to back your goals
At a glance
JSON · Using this page with an AI assistantOrange County School of the Arts is a charter high school in Santa Ana, Orange County, California with 393 seniors in the Class of 2025.
Its UC Reach Score is 96 (Excellent, top 6% in California): 378 UC admits (counted at each UC) from a senior class of 393, so a student admitted to several campuses counts at each. That is higher than 99% of California high schools.
In 2025 its students filed 1,133 UC applications and received 378 offers, a UC admit rate of 33.4% (counted at each campus); 76 enrolled.
More of its graduates enrolled at UC Berkeley than at any other UC campus (21 in 2025); UC Berkeley and UCLA together admitted 82.
88% of its graduates completed the A-G courses required for UC and CSU eligibility (California median 56%).
90% of its 2022-23 graduates enrolled in college within 12 months (California Department of Education College-Going Rate).
Enrollment was 1,915 students in 2026, up 46% since 2020.
Orange County School of the Arts publishes a matriculation list (where its graduates enrolled) for the Class of 2026: 130 colleges, with per-college counts; the largest counts are University of Southern California (23), University of California - Berkeley (20), Orange Coast College (16), Chapman University (15), University of California - Los Angeles (14). Source: Academic Profile 2026-27.
Orange County School of the Arts's feeder standing, from the schools' own published counts: #1 USC, #2 UCLA, #3 UC Berkeley, #7 Carnegie Mellon, #7 Loyola Marymount University, #8 Northwestern.
Sources: University of California Office of the President (admissions), California Department of Education (enrollment, A-G, college-going), and the school's own published documents where named.
Questions families ask
What is Orange County School of the Arts's UC Reach Score? Orange County School of the Arts's UC Reach Score is 96 (Excellent, top 6% in California): 378 UC admits (counted at each UC) from a senior class of 393, so a student admitted to several campuses counts at each. That is higher than 99% of California high schools.
How many students from Orange County School of the Arts got into a UC? In 2025 its students filed 1,133 UC applications and received 378 offers, a UC admit rate of 33.4% (counted at each campus); 76 enrolled.
Which UC campus do Orange County School of the Arts graduates attend most? More of Orange County School of the Arts's graduates enrolled at UC Berkeley than at any other UC campus (21 in 2025); UC Berkeley and UCLA together admitted 82.
What percentage of Orange County School of the Arts graduates complete the A-G requirements? 88% of its graduates completed the A-G courses required for UC and CSU eligibility (California median 56%).
What percentage of Orange County School of the Arts graduates go to college? 90% of its 2022-23 graduates enrolled in college within 12 months (California Department of Education College-Going Rate).
Where do Orange County School of the Arts graduates go to college? Orange County School of the Arts publishes a matriculation list (where its graduates enrolled) for the Class of 2026: 130 colleges, with per-college counts; the largest counts are University of Southern California (23), University of California - Berkeley (20), Orange Coast College (16), Chapman University (15), University of California - Los Angeles (14). Source: Academic Profile 2026-27.
Which colleges is Orange County School of the Arts a top feeder school to? Orange County School of the Arts's feeder standing, from the schools' own published counts: #1 USC, #2 UCLA, #3 UC Berkeley, #7 Carnegie Mellon, #7 Loyola Marymount University, #8 Northwestern.
Analysis: Test Prep Gurus (High School Reach, highschoolreach.com). These figures may be quoted with attribution to Test Prep Gurus.
What does AI tell parents about Orange County School of the Arts?
When a parent asks an AI assistant about Orange County School of the Arts, the answer is built from a handful of sources, and Reach is often one of them. We will send your school a short report on what AI says about Orange County School of the Arts and where it comes from. The first report is free.
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