Compare with peers
Most similar nearby schools
Mission Bay High → University City High School → Charter School of San Diego → Canyon Hills High School → Preuss School UCSD → Compare all similar →A parent's read
- Where graduates go, as the school itself publishes it. La Jolla High publishes where its graduates go (Class of 2021): 32 colleges, including Harvard, Stanford, Yale, UC Berkeley.
- The UC pipeline here is real. 180 admissions to the top six UC campuses for a class of 288 seniors puts this school in roughly the top 5% of California high schools.
- And it's a rising stock. UC admissions per senior have climbed three years running — the trend line, not just the snapshot, is moving the right way.
- 8 in 10 graduates leave eligible for UC and CSU. 86% finish the A-G courses California's universities require before a student can even apply — most California schools manage about 6 in 10.
- Worth asking about on a tour: counselor load. One counselor served about 382 students here in the 2020 federal count — above the 250-to-1 level counseling experts recommend. Ask what the ratio is today and how junior-year college advising actually gets covered.
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
La Jolla High publishes where its graduates enrolled (Class of 2021): 32 colleges. See the full list ↓
At a glance
- 19 AP courses offered — Elite
- Dual-enrollment program (college credit while in HS)
- Gifted & talented program
- 1 calculus classes · 9 physics · 12 chemistry
- AP rigor: 86th percentile nationally
- SAT/ACT participation: 75th percentile by test-taker volume
- 4-yr grad rate: 97% in 2019 (90th percentile nationally)
Composed from federal CRDC offerings, EDFacts graduation data, and other public data. Full breakdowns below.
Their published matriculation list
Where the Class of 2021 enrolled
La Jolla High publishes where its graduates enrolled. What follows is copied from that document — 32 colleges, in the document's own order.
Ivy+ and most selective · 6
Harvard · Stanford · Yale · University of Pennsylvania · Dartmouth · University of Chicago
University of California · 7
UC Berkeley · UCLA · UC Davis · UC Riverside · UC Santa Cruz · UC Santa Barbara · UCSD
Cal State · 2
Other California · 2
Out of state · 12
Brandeis · NYU · Colorado State · University of Michigan · Tulane · Indiana University · Penn State · Reed College · Rice University · University of Washington · University of Oregon · Lewis and Clark
Not matched to a college page · 3
BYU · USD · Emerson
Is my kid's college on this list?
The school down the road: Preuss School UCSD
| College | La Jolla High | Preuss School UCSD |
|---|---|---|
| Boston College | — | ✓ named |
| Brown University | — | ✓ named |
| Columbia University | — | ✓ named |
| Cornell University | — | ✓ named |
| Dartmouth | ✓ named | ✓ named |
| Duke University | — | ✓ named |
| Emory University | — | ✓ named |
| Georgetown University | — | ✓ named |
| Harvard | ✓ named | ✓ named |
| Johns Hopkins University | — | ✓ named |
| NYU | ✓ named | ✓ named |
| Princeton University | — | ✓ named |
Both schools print names, not counts, so this shows which selective colleges each list names.
All 32 colleges, as the document prints them
and 2 more
These graduates went on to the colleges above.
Check your kid's odds at these colleges →We'll load 10 from the list above — add your name, email and your child's numbers and we'll see where your child lands at each.
Independently verified As published by La Jolla High — Class of 2021 College Admissions Results (LJHS Counseling news post, posted 06/14/2021) ↗. Found at: Counseling > Class of 2021 College Admissions Results — body paragraph under "Where are students from the La Jolla High Class of 2021 going to college?".
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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
84.4% 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 85.4% had enrolled — CDE publishes a 16-month window alongside the 12-month one, 246 students.
About the same as the 2021-22 class (84.8%).
Where the 2022-23 class enrolled
In California — 178 students (61.8%)
Out of state — 65 students (22.6%)
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 La Jolla High compares for families
Top-tier college outcomes for California families.
- ▸ StatewideUC Reach Score of 62 — 43 points above the California median of 19. Ahead of 95% of California high schools.
- ▸ Locally🎓 Top 6 in San Diego County on UC Reach — plus 2 more top-ranks.
- ▸ vs Similar SchoolsBeats the peer median (UC Reach Score 62 vs a 26 median) across the 5 most similar nearby schools.
For Parents
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Objective, government-grade data — no school pays us for placement.
Academic rigor
AP + advanced-course offerings
Elite — exceptional AP + advanced course breadth
86th percentile nationally
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 · 2020-2175th percentile by test-taker volume
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?
90th percentile nationally
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
Mixed-income school
Below Title I eligibility threshold (FRPL < 35%)
25-34% of students qualify for free/reduced lunch. Below the federal Title I threshold but a meaningful share of the population is income-eligible for free lunch.
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.
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 8.0 pp since 2016-17. 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 (-3.1%/yr, Total enrollment)
At per-pupil funding of $ / student:
| Horizon | Projected Total enrollment | Change | Funding impact / yr |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 yr (2027) | ~1,112 | -35 | $0 |
| 3 yr (2029) | ~1,044 | -103 | $0 |
| 5 yr (2031) | ~980 | -167 | $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 La Jolla High really compare on getting kids to college?
We've ranked it #2 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
Mission Bay High · University City High · Charter School of San Diego · Canyon Hills High School · Preuss School UCSD · Clairemont 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 San Diego County baseline — the demographic tide is moving every CA HS, so a school's gap vs. county is the actionable signal.
LA Jolla High's enrollment is shrinking 3.2× the county rate (school -22.4% vs. county -6.9%). Stability of 93.0% means every family you keep is one fewer; the leverage is at recruitment, not retention. This is the case the high stability number alone would hide.
84 of 1,202 students who enrolled at La Jolla High this year didn't maintain continuous enrollment (7.0% 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.
District financial profile — San Diego 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.
Local: 65.2%
Federal: 10.6%
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 Diego 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).
La Jolla High sent 699 applications to the six most selective University of California campuses and 25.8% were admitted, producing a UC Reach Score of 62 (top-6 UC admits per 100 seniors, counting a student at each campus that admitted them) — 43 points above the California median of 19, higher than 95% of California high schools. The school produces 12.8 UCLA + UC Berkeley admits per 100 seniors.
19
26
53
62
Higher than 95% of California high schools (1105 ranked, ≥50 seniors)
La Jolla High's UC Reach Score of 62 clears the statewide top-10% cutoff (53) — meaning roughly 62 top-6 UC admits per 100 seniors, well above what most California schools achieve.
For context, the elite tier (top 1%) clears 95 — a gap of 33 pp from where this school sits.
Overall, La Jolla High's UC Reach is higher than 95% of California high schools (1105 ranked).
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 | Moderate | Long odds | Filtered out |
| UC Santa Barbara | Strong shot | Real shot | Long odds | Filtered out |
| UC Irvine | Strong shot | Real shot | Long odds | Filtered out |
| UC Davis | Strong shot | Strong shot | Real shot | Filtered out |
The numbers behind it
| Campus | Applicant GPA | Admit GPA | Lift ⓘ | Admit rate | vs peer schools @ same GPA ⓘ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UC Berkeley | 4.13 | 4.30 | +0.18 | 18.6% | Peers +0.17 · matches |
| UCLA | 4.09 | 4.31 | +0.22 | 11.7% | Peers +0.22 · matches |
| UC San Diego | 3.99 | 4.31 | +0.32 | 22.3% | Peers +0.27 · steeper |
| UC Santa Barbara | 4.03 | 4.32 | +0.29 | 41.3% | Peers +0.25 · steeper |
| UC Irvine | 4.04 | 4.30 | +0.26 | 21.6% | Peers +0.20 · steeper |
| UC Davis | 4.02 | 4.31 | +0.29 | 37.7% | Peers +0.21 · steeper |
Statewide CA admit rates by individual GPA band, 2025 (for reference)
| GPA band | UCB | UCLA | UCSD | UCSB | UCI | UCD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4.00+ | 17.0% | 15.1% | 45.2% | 62.3% | 46.3% | 65.9% |
| 3.70–3.99 | 3.1% | 1.6% | 9.3% | 17.6% | 17.0% | 31.1% |
| 3.30–3.69 | 0.8% | 0.5% | 1.5% | 2.8% | 2.4% | 10.3% |
| 3.00–3.29 | 0.4% | 0.3% | 0.2% | 0.4% | 0.3% | 1.9% |
| < 3.00 | 0.7% | 0.4% | 0.3% | 0.2% | 0.1% | 0.7% |
Where La Jolla High sits vs. all California schools ⓘ
Overall, this school admits its UC applicants in line with what their GPAs predict (25.8% actual vs. 23.3% expected).
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) | Avg GPA (Adm) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UC Berkeley → Elite | 118 | 22 | 10 | 18.6% | 8 | 45.5% | 4.13 | 4.30 |
| UCLA → Elite | 128 | 15 | 7 | 11.7% | 5 | 46.7% | 4.09 | 4.31 |
| UC San Diego → Selective | 112 | 25 | —† | 22.3% | 9 | — | 3.99 | 4.31 |
| UC Santa Barbara → Selective | 138 | 57 | 10 | 41.3% | 20 | 17.5% | 4.03 | 4.32 |
| UC Irvine → Selective | 97 | 21 | 4 | 21.6% | 7 | 19.0% | 4.04 | 4.30 |
| UC Davis → | 106 | 40 | 4 | 37.7% | 14 | 10.0% | 4.02 | 4.31 |
What This Means
For School Admins
The full Reach Report for La Jolla High
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 (62) ranked head-to-head against your closest competitor schools
- ✓Your 5-year enrollment forecast (currently -3.1%/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 assistantLa Jolla High is a public high school in La Jolla, San Diego County, California with 288 seniors in the Class of 2025.
Its UC Reach Score is 62 (Excellent, top 6% in California): 180 UC admits (counted at each UC) from a senior class of 288, so a student admitted to several campuses counts at each. That is higher than 95% of California high schools.
In 2025 its students filed 699 UC applications and received 180 offers, a UC admit rate of 25.8% (counted at each campus); 35 enrolled.
More of its graduates enrolled at UC Berkeley than at any other UC campus (10 in 2025); UC Berkeley and UCLA together admitted 37.
86% of its graduates completed the A-G courses required for UC and CSU eligibility (California median 56%).
84% of its 2022-23 graduates enrolled in college within 12 months (California Department of Education College-Going Rate).
Of its graduates who enrolled at a UC, 97% earned a degree within six years (cohort entering 2019).
It has about 382 students per school counselor.
Enrollment was 1,147 students in 2026, down 24% since 2018.
La Jolla High publishes a matriculation list (where its graduates enrolled) for the Class of 2021: 32 colleges. Source: Class of 2021 College Admissions Results (LJHS Counseling news post, posted 06/14/2021).
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 La Jolla High's UC Reach Score? La Jolla High's UC Reach Score is 62 (Excellent, top 6% in California): 180 UC admits (counted at each UC) from a senior class of 288, so a student admitted to several campuses counts at each. That is higher than 95% of California high schools.
How many students from La Jolla High got into a UC? In 2025 its students filed 699 UC applications and received 180 offers, a UC admit rate of 25.8% (counted at each campus); 35 enrolled.
Which UC campus do La Jolla High graduates attend most? More of La Jolla High's graduates enrolled at UC Berkeley than at any other UC campus (10 in 2025); UC Berkeley and UCLA together admitted 37.
What percentage of La Jolla High graduates complete the A-G requirements? 86% of its graduates completed the A-G courses required for UC and CSU eligibility (California median 56%).
What percentage of La Jolla High graduates go to college? 84% of its 2022-23 graduates enrolled in college within 12 months (California Department of Education College-Going Rate).
Where do La Jolla High graduates go to college? La Jolla High publishes a matriculation list (where its graduates enrolled) for the Class of 2021: 32 colleges. Source: Class of 2021 College Admissions Results (LJHS Counseling news post, posted 06/14/2021).
How many students attend La Jolla High? Enrollment was 1,147 students in 2026, down 24% 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 La Jolla High?
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