No UC admissions data on file for Nathaniel S. Colley Sr. 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.

Nathaniel S. Colley Sr. High

Sacramento · Sacramento County · Sacramento County Office of Education · Public

Public Sacramento County Sacramento County Office of Education → CDS 3410348…
Shareable scorecard →

At a glance

Academic signals
  • AP rigor: Bottom 6% of US high schools
  • 4-yr grad rate: 27% in 2019 (Bottom 6% of US high schools by 4-yr grad rate)

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

How Nathaniel S. Colley Sr. High compares for families

What families should know about Nathaniel S. Colley Sr. High.

  • vs Similar SchoolsThe closest comparables nearby: Rio Cazadero High (continuation), Yolo High, Calvine High School and 2 more. See the sidebar to compare side-by-side.
You've seen Nathaniel S. Colley Sr. High. 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 →

For Parents

Get alerts when Nathaniel S. Colley Sr. High'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.

California College-Going Rate

21.9% 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
21.9%
of 114 graduates

Give the same class four more months and 28.1% had enrolled — CDE publishes a 16-month window alongside the 12-month one, 32 students.

Up 1.2 points from the 2021-22 class (20.7%).

Where the 2022-23 class enrolled

In California — 24 students (21.1%)

University of California 0.0% 0
California State University 0.0% 0
California Community College 15.8% 18
California private college 5.3% 6

Out of state — 1 students (0.9%)

Out-of-state 4-year 0.9% 1
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.

SAT / ACT participation

CRDC federal data · 2020-21
SAT/ACT test-takers
0
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 6% of US high schools by 4-yr grad rate

50th 90th
4-year graduation rate
27%
Range: 25–29%
4-year cohort size
99
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

70.3%
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.

College readiness

Getting ready for college

These come from the state and federal files, not from UC — so they are here whether or not Nathaniel S. Colley Sr. High has a UC admissions record.

Student-Counselor Ratio
Counseling here is unusually well-staffed — about 178 students per counselor, near what experts recommend.
178:1
0.5 FTE counselors · 89 students
In context: CA median 337:1 · 159 fewer students per counselor · ASCA target 250:1.
A-G Completion
Fewer than 1 in 10 graduates finish the courses UC and CSU require — below the state norm. Worth asking how course access and planning work here.
0%
2024-25 cohort
In context: CA median 55.9% · -55.9 pp vs. median · Sacramento Co. 51.2%.

SBAC academic outcomes — grade 11, 2024

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 1 in 10 students read and write at grade level — below the state norm — worth asking what extra support looks like.
Fewer than 1 in 10 students do math at grade level — below the state norm — worth asking what extra support looks like.
ELA — met or exceeded
n = 12
8.3%
incl. 8.3% exceeded
-35.1 pts vs. Sacramento County median (43.4%) · CA median 53.2% · Top 10% statewide ≥ 78.5%
Math — met or exceeded
n = 12
0.0%
incl. 0.0% exceeded
-17.8 pts vs. Sacramento County median (17.8%) · CA median 19.0% · Top 10% statewide ≥ 52.1%

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 39% -9.0
Black / African Am. 30% +12.0
Two or more 12%
Asian 9% +3.8
White 6% -7.9
Filipino 1%
Pacific Islander 1%
American Indian 1%

Program subgroups

Socioeconomically disadv. 67%
Homeless 26% +10.6
Students w/ disabilities 22% +12.1

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.

52% of students miss 10%+ of school days — above the state's ~23%. Ask what the school is doing about engagement.
Chronic absent
52.2%
108 of 207 students

Absenteeism is down 23.2 pp since 2016-17. Engagement improving — a positive trajectory worth understanding and reinforcing.

Sacramento County median
25.8% · school is worse than 84% of 76 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)
115 (2018)89 (2026)
-22.6%
Grade 12 (graduating class)
60 (2018)75 (2026)
+25.0%

If this trend holds (-8.8%/yr, Total enrollment)

At per-pupil funding of $ / student:

Horizon Projected Total enrollment Change Funding impact / yr
1 yr (2027) ~81 -8 $0
3 yr (2029) ~67 -22 $0
5 yr (2031) ~56 -33 $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 Nathaniel S. Colley Sr. High really compare on getting kids to college?

Unlock a head-to-head snapshot of Nathaniel S. Colley Sr. 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

Rio Cazadero High (continuation) · Yolo High · Calvine High School · Kinney High (continuation) · Elinor Lincoln Hickey Jr./Sr. High · American Legion High (continuation) · +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 Sacramento County baseline — the demographic tide is moving every CA HS, so a school's gap vs. county is the actionable signal.

27% 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 Sacramento County (+25.0% vs. +3.3%), but 174 of 239 students didn't maintain continuous enrollment. Why are families leaving once enrolled? Chronic absenteeism is also at 52.8% (up -22.6 pts from 2016-17) — engagement and demand are both signaling decline.

+25.0%  senior class, grade 12 (2018–2026)
+3.3%  Sacramento County baseline
+21.7pp  gap vs. county
27.2%  retention (county median 81.2%)
Senior class (grade 12) — indexed to 100 at 2018
Stability rate by year (raw %)
Stability rate
27.2%
65 of 239 students

174 of 239 students who enrolled at Nathaniel S. Colley Sr. High this year didn't maintain continuous enrollment (72.8% non-stability). Mid-year transfers, dropouts, and other exits are all counted.

Sacramento County median
81.2% · school is in the 9th percentile of 78 HS
Statewide median
87.3% · in the 4th percentile of 1,734 HS

Stability by student group

Socio. disadvantaged (207) 24.2%
Hispanic / Latino (120) 26.7%
Black / African Am. (56) 17.9%
Students w/ disabilities (53) 20.8%
English learners (33) 27.3%
White (25) 48.0%

Nearest peer high schools

Rio Cazadero High (continuation) 25.7% Yolo High 32.8% Calvine High School 33.6% Kinney High (continuation) 28.8% Elinor Lincoln Hickey Jr./Sr. High 19.4%

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 — Sacramento County Office of Education (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
$169.7M
+5.9% since FY2017
Per-pupil revenue
$176,266
963 students enrolled
Revenue mix
State: 43.5%
Local: 41.1%
Federal: 15.5%
Instruction share
30.1%
of current spending · $28,204/pupil
Total revenue by year ($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 Sacramento County Office of Education 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

The full Reach Report for Nathaniel S. Colley Sr. 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 5-year enrollment forecast (currently -8.8%/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 →

Related reading

The data Newsom asked for already exists — school by school

UC testing review · August 25, 2026

Nursing at NYU is harder to get into than Brown

College admissions · August 21, 2026

All stories from the data →

For Parents

Researching colleges for your kid at Nathaniel S. Colley Sr. High?

Check any college's odds in 10 seconds — no email needed — then get the free Family Decision Report: Reach / Competitive / Match / Likely with real admit odds and your real net price, for every college on their list.

Check your child's odds →

For School Admins looking at enrollment trends: request a Reach Report →

What are your child's odds? →

What families ask next