No UC admissions data on file for Refugio High.

This school doesn't appear in UCOP's source-school records (it may send few or no applicants to UC). Its enrollment trend and similar-school comparison are still below.

Refugio High

Solvang · Santa Barbara County · Santa Ynez Valley Union High · Public

Public Santa Barbara County Santa Ynez Valley Union High → CDS 4269328…

Shareable scorecard →

Data Year

Compare with peers

Most similar nearby schools

Peep - Prepare → Legacy High → La Cuesta Continuation High → Paloma Creek High → Cuyama Valley High → Compare all similar →

At a glance

Academic signals

AP rigor: Bottom 6% of US high schools
4-yr grad rate: 75% in 2019 (Bottom 21% of US high schools by 4-yr grad rate)

Composed from federal CRDC offerings, EDFacts graduation data, and other public data. Full breakdowns below.

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How Refugio High compares for families

What families should know about Refugio High.

▸ vs Similar SchoolsThe closest comparables nearby: Peep - Prepare, Legacy High, La Cuesta Continuation High and 2 more. See the sidebar to compare side-by-side.

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California College-Going Rate

College-going rate: —

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.

—

CDE masks small groups. It suppresses every figure for a school whose graduating class is 10 students or fewer, so no rate is published for Refugio High’s 2022-23 class. The figure exists — it is withheld, not missing.

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.

SAT / ACT participation

CRDC federal data · 2020-21

SAT/ACT test-takers

11th-12th graders who took 1+ college admissions test

Test-taking intensity

0.0

takers per 100 students in grades 9-12

Source: federal Civil Rights Data Collection (CRDC 2020-21). Volume — not score — is what's reported here. A higher count means more students at this school are entering the college admissions pipeline. Note: 2020-21 was COVID-disrupted; some districts (especially those that stayed remote longer) report unusually low or zero takers.

4-year graduation rate · federal EDFacts

What % of students graduate on time?

Bottom 21% of US high schools by 4-yr grad rate

4-year graduation rate

75%

Range: 50–100%

4-year cohort size

Students in the 9th-grade entry class tracked over 4 years

Compared against

17,988

US high schools reporting 4-year ACGR

Source: federal EDFacts ACGR (Adjusted Cohort Graduation Rate), 2019 vintage via Urban Institute. EDFacts publishes a range (low-high) to preserve privacy on small cohorts; we display the midpoint.

Federal Title I context

Title I Targeted Assistance eligible

35-39% FRPL — qualifies for Title I Targeted Assistance

36.4%

FRPL rate — % of students who qualify for the federal Free or Reduced-Price Lunch program. This is the underlying federal income-eligibility signal Title I designations are computed from (ESEA Sec. 1113).

0% (no FRPL) 35% TA · 40% Schoolwide 100% (universal FRPL)

35-39% of students qualify for free/reduced lunch. The school can receive Title I funds targeted to identified students (not schoolwide).

Source: NCES Common Core of Data, free/reduced-price lunch eligibility. The actual Title I designation is a district decision and may differ from eligibility — but the federal eligibility math is what we show here. We don't claim to assert whether the district formally chose to enroll this school in Title I.

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

Hispanic / Latino 100% +9.1

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.

100% of students miss 10%+ of school days — above the state's ~23%. Ask what the school is doing about engagement.

Chronic absent

100.0%

15 of 15 students

Absenteeism is up 30.0 pp since 2016-17. A rising absenteeism trend often precedes formal departure — worth investigating which subgroups are driving it.

Santa Barbara County median

22.5% · school is worse than 100% of 13 HS

Statewide median

22.8%

Chronic absenteeism by year (raw %)

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

Total enrollment (9–12)

11 (2018) → 8 (2026)

-27.3%

Grade 12 (graduating class)

5 (2018) → 6 (2026)

+20.0%

How does Refugio High really compare on getting kids to college?

Unlock a head-to-head snapshot of Refugio High against its 10 most similar nearby schools — matched on size, location, type. See exactly where it stands on the college pipeline.

The full head-to-head table — every peer school's UC Reach, side by side.

Enrollment trend + 3-year projection — is this school growing or quietly shrinking?

The plain-English read on what it all means for your family.

Your similar-school group includes

Peep - Prepare · Legacy High · La Cuesta Continuation High · Paloma Creek High · Cuyama Valley High · Pacific Beach High · +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 Santa Barbara County baseline — the demographic tide is moving every CA HS, so a school's gap vs. county is the actionable signal.

44% of students who start the year finish it here — more churn than most CA schools. Ask what's behind the turnover.

Mixed signal

Demand outpacing county is masking internal churn.

Enrollment growth is beating Santa Barbara County (+20.0% vs. +3.2%), but 9 of 16 students didn't maintain continuous enrollment. Why are families leaving once enrolled? Chronic absenteeism is also at 100.0% (up +30.0 pts from 2016-17) — engagement and demand are both signaling decline.

+20.0% senior class, grade 12 (2018–2026)

+3.2% Santa Barbara County baseline

+16.8pp gap vs. county

43.8% retention (county median 89.1%)

Senior class (grade 12) — indexed to 100 at 2018

Stability rate by year (raw %)

Stability rate

43.8%

7 of 16 students

9 of 16 students who enrolled at Refugio High this year didn't maintain continuous enrollment (56.2% non-stability). Mid-year transfers, dropouts, and other exits are all counted.

Santa Barbara County median

89.1% · school is in the 15th percentile of 13 HS

Statewide median

87.3% · in the 14th percentile of 1,734 HS

Nearest peer high schools

Peep - Prepare 82.6% Legacy High 58.8% La Cuesta Continuation High 29.9% Paloma Creek High 55.6% Cuyama Valley High 90.0%

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.

District financial profile — Santa Ynez Valley Union High (FY2020)

From 4 years of NCES F-33 filings (the federally-mandated district finance survey). Public schools don't have their own books — the district does. These figures show the financial scale, revenue dependence, instruction-vs-overhead mix, and long-term debt that shape what a school can sustain.

Total revenue

$16.5M

+7.2% since FY2017

Per-pupil revenue

$19,040

864 students enrolled

Revenue mix

State: 9.1%
Local: 87.1%
Federal: 3.8%

Instruction share

47.4%

of current spending · $8,202/pupil

Long-term debt

$14.3M

+43.7% since FY2017

Total revenue by year ($M)

Total expenditure by year ($M)

Source: NCES F-33 Annual Survey of School System Finances (Urban Institute Education Data API). Latest year currently published: FY2020. F-33 is a district-level federal filing — it reflects the Santa Ynez Valley Union High as a whole, not this individual school's books. Revenue mix shows where the district's dollars come from (state aid dominates in CA via LCFF). Instruction share is current expenditure on instruction ÷ total current expenditure (national benchmark ~60%). Long-term debt is end-of-year outstanding (mostly facilities bonds).

For School Admins

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✓Student-retention benchmarking vs your county median — and the LCAP evidence to back your goals

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At a glance

JSON · Using this page with an AI assistant

Refugio High is a public high school in Solvang, Santa Barbara County, California.

Enrollment was 8 students in 2026, down 27% since 2018.

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

How many students attend Refugio High? Enrollment was 8 students in 2026, down 27% since 2018.

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 Refugio High?

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