Independence High School

San Francisco · San Francisco County · San Francisco Unified · Public

Public San Francisco County San Francisco Unified → ~87 seniors CDS 3868478…

Data Year

Compare with peers

Most similar nearby schools

Wells (ida B.) High → Downtown High School → KIPP San Francisco College Prep → San Francisco International High School → Metwest High School → Compare all similar →

Top 7 ELA proficiency in San Francisco

A parent's read

About 2 in 3 students read and write at grade level. On the state's own 11th-grade test, 63% met or exceeded the college-readiness bar — well above the state as a whole (statewide: 54%).
Most grads aim beyond the UC system. Seniors file only ~0.8 UC applications each — families here mostly target CSU, private, or out-of-state colleges, so judge this school on more than its UC numbers.
Worth asking about: attendance. 37% of students are chronically absent — above the state's ~23%. Ask what the school is doing about engagement; absenteeism is usually the earliest warning light.

Composed from this page's data — every claim is backed by a number in the sections below.

At a glance

Programs & features

Dual-enrollment program (college credit while in HS)
Gifted & talented program
1 calculus classes · 3 physics · 1 chemistry

Academic signals

AP rigor: Bottom 37% of US high schools
4-yr grad rate: 77% in 2019 (Bottom 25% of US high schools by 4-yr grad rate)

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

Keep this page current

Work at Independence High School? 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.

Your badges. Independence High School has 1 badge it can post on its own site, free — each states one claim from this page and links back here. Get the badge code →

Send us links

Links only, please. We can't take file uploads, and we never publish a number without the document it came from.

By sending this you agree that we may email you about your request. We write by email only, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

California College-Going Rate

48.7% 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

48.7%

of 117 graduates

Give the same class four more months and 54.7% had enrolled — CDE publishes a 16-month window alongside the 12-month one, 64 students.

Up 13.7 points from the 2021-22 class (35%).

Where the 2022-23 class enrolled

In California — 54 students (46.2%)

University of California 6.8% 8

California State University 6.0% 7

California Community College 32.5% 38

California private college 0.9% 1

Out of state — 3 students (2.6%)

Out-of-state 4-year 1.7% 2

Out-of-state 2-year 0.9% 1

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.

You've seen Independence High School. What are your child's real college odds? Check any college in 10 seconds — no email needed — then get the free Family Decision Report: Reach / Competitive / Match / Likely + the real cost range for every college on their list. Check odds →

How Independence High School compares for families

Solid mid-tier academic profile.

▸ Locally📘 Top 7 in San Francisco County on ELA proficiency.
▸ vs Similar SchoolsThe closest comparables nearby: Wells (ida B.) High, Downtown High, KIPP San Francisco College Prep and 2 more. See the sidebar to compare side-by-side.

For Parents

Get alerts when Independence High School's numbers change

New admissions results, enrollment shifts, test scores — a few alerts a year, no spam. Your email also saves your list across devices.

Objective, government-grade data — no school pays us for placement.

Academic rigor

AP + advanced-course offerings

Moderate — some AP / advanced course access

Bottom 37% of US high schools

Less rigorMore rigorMost rigor

Advanced math classes

1 calculus · 0 advanced

Lab science classes

3 physics · 1 chemistry

Other rigor signals

Dual-enrollment program
Gifted/talented 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

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 25% of US high schools by 4-yr grad rate

4-year graduation rate

77%

Range: 75–79%

4-year cohort size

105

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 Schoolwide eligible

≥40% FRPL — qualifies for Title I Schoolwide program

56.6%

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)

40-74% of students qualify for free/reduced lunch. The district can use Title I funds across the whole school under federal Schoolwide Program rules.

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 2 in 3 students read and write at grade level — above the state norm.

About 1 in 5 students do math at grade level — about the state norm.

ELA — met or exceeded

n = 19

63.2%

incl. 31.6% exceeded

+8.7 pts above San Francisco County median (54.5%) · CA median 54.5% · Top 10% statewide ≥ 79.4%

Math — met or exceeded

n = 20

20.0%

incl. 0.0% exceeded

-1.2 pts vs. San Francisco County median (21.2%) · 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

Hispanic / Latino 30% -2.1

White 22% -4.8

Black / African Am. 18% +2.9

Two or more 9% -3.9

Asian 8%

Not reported 6% +3.9

Pacific Islander 3%

Filipino 2%

American Indian 1%

Program subgroups

Socioeconomically disadv. 52%

Students w/ disabilities 28%

Homeless 7%

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.

37% of students miss 10%+ of school days — above the state's ~23%. Ask what the school is doing about engagement.

Chronic absent

37.2%

111 of 298 students

Absenteeism is down 25.2 pp since 2016-17. Engagement improving — a positive trajectory worth understanding and reinforcing.

San Francisco County median

39.8% · school is better than 59% of 17 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)

176 (2018) → 204 (2026)

+15.9%

Grade 12 (graduating class)

37 (2018) → 88 (2026)

+137.8%

If this trend holds (+3.3%/yr, Total enrollment)

At per-pupil funding of $ / student:

Horizon	Projected Total enrollment	Change	Funding impact / yr
1 yr (2027)	~211	+7	$0
3 yr (2029)	~225	+21	$0
5 yr (2031)	~240	+36	$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 Independence High School really compare on getting kids to college?

We've ranked it #9 of 9 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

Wells (ida B.) High · Downtown High · KIPP San Francisco College Prep · San Francisco International High School · Metwest High School · Envision Academy Arts/Technology · +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 San Francisco County baseline — the demographic tide is moving every CA HS, so a school's gap vs. county is the actionable signal.

60% of students who start the year here finish it here.

Mixed signal

Demand outpacing county is masking internal churn.

Enrollment growth is beating San Francisco County (+137.8% vs. -1.6%), but 121 of 305 students didn't maintain continuous enrollment. Why are families leaving once enrolled? Chronic absenteeism is also at 37.2% (up -25.2 pts from 2016-17) — engagement and demand are both signaling decline.

+137.8% senior class, grade 12 (2018–2026)

-1.6% San Francisco County baseline

+139.4pp gap vs. county

60.3% retention (county median 86.2%)

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

Stability rate by year (raw %)

Stability rate

60.3%

184 of 305 students

121 of 305 students who enrolled at Independence High School this year didn't maintain continuous enrollment (39.7% non-stability). Mid-year transfers, dropouts, and other exits are all counted.

San Francisco County median

86.2% · school is in the 22nd percentile of 18 HS

Statewide median

87.3% · in the 21st percentile of 1,734 HS

Stability by student group

Socio. disadvantaged (183) 59.0%

Hispanic / Latino (99) 59.6%

Students w/ disabilities (94) 62.8%

White (67) 59.7%

Black / African Am. (50) 60.0%

Two or more races (35) 62.9%

Nearest peer high schools

Wells (ida B.) High 46.0% Downtown High 49.4% KIPP San Francisco College Prep 85.9% San Francisco International High School 79.1%

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 — San Francisco 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

$1228.3M

+17.3% since FY2017

Per-pupil revenue

$23,716

51,790 students enrolled

Revenue mix

State: 36.3%
Local: 56.0%
Federal: 7.8%

Instruction share

53.2%

of current spending · $9,747/pupil

Long-term debt

$969.8M

+0.1% 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 San Francisco 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).

UC Reach Score ⓘ methodology

UC Application Reach Score ⓘ

69 applications

In context: CA median 81 · Top 10% statewide ≥ 240 · San Francisco Co. Top 10% ≥ 319 · higher than 49% of CA HS.

UC Admit Rate ⓘ

N/A

— / 69 applications

UC Yield Rate ⓘ

N/A

— enrolled of — 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 / 87 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 ⓘ

Counseling here is unusually well-staffed — about 202 students per counselor, near what experts recommend.

202:1

1.01 FTE counselors · 204 students

In context: CA median 337:1 · 135 fewer students per counselor · ASCA target 250:1.

A-G Completion ⓘ

Only 1 in 3 graduates finish the courses UC and CSU require — below the state norm. Worth asking how course access and planning work here.

33%

37 of 113 graduates · 2024-25 cohort

In context: CA median 55.9% · -23.2 pp vs. median · San Francisco Co. 68.9%.

Selective UC Reach (UCB, UCLA, UCSD, UCSB, UCI — incl. the Elite two) ⓘ

N/A

Elite UC Reach (UCB + UCLA) ⓘ

N/A

Senior Class Size ⓘ

CDE grade 12 (exact)

Total School Enrollment ⓘ

235

All grades · CDE Census Day

Avg. Applicant GPA · top-6 UCs ⓘ

3.51

UC Outcomes Trend — 2021–2025

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	15	—^†	—^†	—^†	—^†	—	3.62	—^†
UCLA → Elite	12	—^†	—^†	—^†	—^†	—	3.56	—^†
UC San Diego → Selective	10	—^†	—^†	—^†	—^†	—	3.37	—^†
UC Santa Barbara → Selective	10	—^†	—^†	—^†	—^†	—	3.33	—^†
UC Irvine → Selective	9	—^†	—^†	—^†	—^†	—	3.61	—^†
UC Davis →	13	—^†	—^†	—^†	—^†	—	3.51	—^†

† = 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

A large share of the senior class applies to UC, indicating strong college-going culture and UC pipeline development.

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 San Francisco County rankings →

For School Admins

The full Reach Report for Independence 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 5-year enrollment forecast (currently 3.3%/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 →

At a glance

JSON · Using this page with an AI assistant

Independence High School is a public high school in San Francisco, San Francisco County, California with 87 seniors in the Class of 2025.

33% of its graduates completed the A-G courses required for UC and CSU eligibility (California median 56%).

49% of its 2022-23 graduates enrolled in college within 12 months (California Department of Education College-Going Rate).

It has about 202 students per school counselor.

Enrollment was 204 students in 2026, up 16% 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

What percentage of Independence High School graduates complete the A-G requirements? 33% of its graduates completed the A-G courses required for UC and CSU eligibility (California median 56%).

What percentage of Independence High School graduates go to college? 49% of its 2022-23 graduates enrolled in college within 12 months (California Department of Education College-Going Rate).

How many students attend Independence High School? Enrollment was 204 students in 2026, up 16% 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 Independence High School?

When a parent asks an AI assistant about Independence High School, 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 Independence High School and where it comes from. The first report is free.

Request the free report