Durham High School

Durham · Butte County · Durham Unified · Public

Public Butte County Durham Unified → ~72 seniors CDS 0461432…
Shareable scorecard →

At a glance

Programs & features
  • Dual-enrollment program (college credit while in HS)
  • 1 calculus classes · 2 physics · 3 chemistry
Academic signals
  • AP rigor: Bottom 40% of US high schools
  • SAT/ACT participation: Bottom 37% by test-taker volume
  • 4-yr grad rate: 92% in 2019 (60th percentile nationally)

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

Where grads go — and what it costs & pays

UC Reach Score
6
Below the CA median below the state median
Top-6 UC admits per 100 seniors in the Class of 2025 — counts each campus admit, so a student admitted to several UCs counts more than once (which is why a strong school can score over 100).

UC admits by campus · Class of 2025

UCD
4 admitted
Net $14,741/yr avg
Grads earn $80,838 @10yr

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:

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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

71% 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.

Within 12 months
71%
of 69 graduates

Give the same class four more months and 73.9% had enrolled — CDE publishes a 16-month window alongside the 12-month one, 51 students.

Down 13.1 points from the 2021-22 class (84.1%).

Where the 2022-23 class enrolled

In California — 42 students (60.9%)

University of California 5.8% 4
California State University 14.5% 10
California Community College 40.6% 28
California private college 0.0% 0

Out of state — 7 students (10.1%)

Out-of-state 4-year 10.1% 7
Out-of-state 2-year 0.0% 0

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.

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How Durham High School compares for families

Real college outcomes data available below.

  • StatewideUC Reach Score of 6 — 13 points below the California median of 19.
  • vs Similar SchoolsRight at the peer median (UC Reach Score 5) across the 5 most similar nearby schools.

For Parents

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Academic rigor

AP + advanced-course offerings

Moderate — some AP / advanced course access

Bottom 40% of US high schools

50th 90th ↑ this school
Less rigorMore rigorMost rigor
Advanced math classes
2
1 calculus · 1 advanced
Lab science classes
5
2 physics · 3 chemistry
Other rigor signals
Dual-enrollment program

Source: federal Civil Rights Data Collection (CRDC 2020-21). CRDC reports what's offered + enrolled — it doesn't collect AP exam pass rates (College Board owns that data and doesn't release it school-level).

SAT / ACT participation

CRDC federal data · 2020-21

Bottom 37% by test-taker volume

50th 90th
SAT/ACT test-takers
39
11th-12th graders who took 1+ college admissions test
Test-taking intensity
12.2
takers per 100 students in grades 9-12
Compared against
18,426
US high schools reporting SAT/ACT participation

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?

60th percentile nationally

50th 90th
4-year graduation rate
92%
Range: 90–94%
4-year cohort size
70
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

38.8%
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.

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.

About half of students read and write at grade level — about the state norm.
About 1 in 4 students do math at grade level — above the state norm.
ELA — met or exceeded
n = 80
50.0%
incl. 13.8% exceeded
On the Butte County median (50.0%) · CA median 54.5% · Top 10% statewide ≥ 79.4%
Math — met or exceeded
n = 78
28.2%
incl. 15.4% exceeded
On the Butte County median (28.0%) · CA median 21.4% · Top 10% statewide ≥ 53.6%

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

White 69% +5.4
Hispanic / Latino 24% -1.1
Two or more 4% -3.1
Asian 1%
Black / African Am. 1%
Not reported 1% -2.0

Program subgroups

Socioeconomically disadv. 40% -2.6
Students w/ disabilities 4%

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.

Kids show up: 17% are chronically absent versus about 23% statewide — engagement most schools would envy.
Chronic absent
17.3%
56 of 324 students

Absenteeism is up 8.2 pp since 2016-17. A rising absenteeism trend often precedes formal departure — worth investigating which subgroups are driving it.

Butte County median
25.9% · school is better than 85% 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)
286 (2018)326 (2026)
+14.0%
Grade 12 (graduating class)
61 (2018)81 (2026)
+32.8%

If this trend holds (+1.0%/yr, Total enrollment)

At per-pupil funding of $ / student:

Horizon Projected Total enrollment Change Funding impact / yr
1 yr (2027) ~329 +3 $0
3 yr (2029) ~336 +10 $0
5 yr (2031) ~343 +17 $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 Durham High School really compare on getting kids to college?

We've ranked it #2 of 7 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.

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

Inspire School Of Arts And Sciences · Core Butte Charter School · Hamilton Union High School · Paradise High School · Willows High School · Hometech Charter · +4 more

Objective, government-grade data — no school pays us for placement. We'll email you the snapshot and a few alerts a year. Unsubscribe anytime.

Enrollment stability & demand — 2024-25

Two complementary signals: retention (do students stay once enrolled?) and demand (are families choosing the school?). Read against the Butte County baseline — the demographic tide is moving every CA HS, so a school's gap vs. county is the actionable signal.

Families don't leave: 95% of students who start the year finish it here — top-tier retention statewide.
Healthy
Best in class — winning on demand and retention.

Durham High School outperformed Butte County on enrollment (school +32.8% vs. county +19.8%) AND maintains 95.1% stability. Replicable model — worth documenting what's working.

+32.8%  senior class, grade 12 (2018–2026)
+19.8%  Butte County baseline
+13.0pp  gap vs. county
95.1%  retention (county median 81.8%)
Senior class (grade 12) — indexed to 100 at 2018
Stability rate by year (raw %)
Stability rate
95.1%
311 of 327 students

16 of 327 students who enrolled at Durham High School this year didn't maintain continuous enrollment (4.9% non-stability). Mid-year transfers, dropouts, and other exits are all counted.

Butte County median
81.8% · school is in the 100th percentile of 13 HS
Statewide median
87.3% · in the 90th percentile of 1,734 HS

Stability by student group

White (216) 96.8%
Socio. disadvantaged (140) 92.9%
Hispanic / Latino (80) 92.5%
Students w/ disabilities (36) 94.4%
Two or more races (20) 100.0%

Nearest peer high schools

Inspire School Of Arts And Sciences 86.4% Core Butte Charter School 81.8% Hamilton Union High School 96.2% Paradise High School 80.2% Willows High School 90.1%

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 — Durham Unified (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
$13.9M
+14.5% since FY2017
Per-pupil revenue
$14,039
991 students enrolled
Revenue mix
State: 54.6%
Local: 36.7%
Federal: 8.7%
Instruction share
58.7%
of current spending · $7,397/pupil
Long-term debt
$16.4M
Total revenue by year ($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 Durham Unified 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).

Key takeaway · Class of 2025

Durham High School sent 17 applications to the six most selective University of California campuses and 23.5% were admitted, producing a UC Reach Score of 6 (top-6 UC admits per 100 seniors, counting a student at each campus that admitted them) — 13 points below the California median of 19, higher than 4% of California high schools..

UC Reach Score 6 4 admits (counted at each UC) / 72 seniors On the peer median (5) · #2 of 7 similar schools methodology
Where this sits on the California curve
CA median
19
Peer median
5
Top 10%
53
This school
6
050100
CA median 19 Top 10% ≥ 53 This school 6

Higher than 4% of California high schools (1107 ranked, ≥50 seniors)

What this number means

Durham High School's UC Reach Score of 6 is below the California median (19). The top 10% of CA schools achieve 53 or higher.

Overall, Durham High School's UC Reach is higher than 4% of California high schools (1107 ranked).

UC Application Reach Score
24
17 applications
In context: CA median 81 · Top 10% statewide ≥ 240 · higher than 4% of CA HS.
UC Admit Rate
23.5%
4 / 17 applications
In context: CA median 26.0% · Top 10% statewide ≥ 40.4% · higher than 36% of CA HS.
UC Yield Rate
N/A
— enrolled of 4 admitted
Yield vs. Enrollment Reach: Yield answers "of UC admits, what % chose UC?" — denominator is just the admits. A small admitted cohort can post a low yield even when the school sends a healthy share of its class to UC.
UC Enrollment Reach Score
N/A
— enrollees / 72 seniors
Enrollment Reach vs. Yield: Reach answers "of the whole senior class, what share ended up at UC?" — denominator is everyone. High Yield with low Enrollment Reach is common at elite privates: most admits matriculate, but the school sends most of its class to non-UC selective colleges.
Student-Counselor Ratio
About 326 students per counselor — typical for California, though well above the 250 experts recommend.
326:1
1.0 FTE counselors · 326 students
In context: CA median 337:1 · ASCA target 250:1.
A-G Completion
About half of graduates finish the UC/CSU course requirements — about the state norm.
48%
33 of 69 graduates · 2024-25 cohort
In context: CA median 55.9% · -8.1 pp vs. median · Butte Co. 28.7%.
Selective UC Reach (UCB, UCLA, UCSD, UCSB, UCI — incl. the Elite two)
N/A
Elite UC Reach (UCB + UCLA)
N/A
Senior Class Size
72
CDE grade 12 (exact)
Total School Enrollment
320
All grades · CDE Census Day
Economic Connectedness
1.23
65th percentile in CA · cross‑class friendships
Avg. Applicant GPA · top-6 UCs
4.03

UC Outcomes Trend — 2018–2025

UC Admit Rate %
UC Reach Score (where available)
UC Admits (count, right axis)

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) Avg GPA (Adm)
UC Berkeley → Elite 5 4.09
UC San Diego → Selective 5 4.02
UC Davis → 7 4 57.1% 6 3.99
= UCOP-suppressed (count below 3 students, hidden for privacy — actual value is 0, 1, or 2, not necessarily zero). Campus-level totals may count one student admitted to multiple UC campuses more than once; Admit Volume metrics are not the same as UC Reach, which is measured against the whole senior class. See methodology →

What This Means

Fewer than 15% of seniors are earning UC admission. This may reflect a high non-UC college-going rate, significant A-G completion gaps, or an early-stage UC pipeline. A deeper review of A-G readiness and counseling capacity is warranted.
Note: the UC Reach Score sums campus-level admits across the top-six UC campuses, so a student admitted to both UCLA and UCSD is counted at each. It reflects competitive admit volume relative to class size — admit-events, not distinct students — which is why a Score can exceed 100.
Compare with other schools → See Butte County rankings →

For School Admins

The full Reach Report for Durham High School

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 (6) ranked head-to-head against your closest competitor schools
  • Your 5-year enrollment forecast (currently 1.0%/yr) with the revenue at stake
  • Student-retention benchmarking vs your county median — and the LCAP evidence to back your goals
See a sample report →

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For Parents

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