Orange County School of the Arts
Santa Ana · Orange County · Magnet/Charter · High school
📄 Shareable scorecard →Compare with peers
Most similar nearby schools
Santa Ana High School → Valley High → La Quinta High → Foothill High → Orange High School → Compare all similar →🧭 A parent's read
- The UC pipeline here is real. 378 admissions to the top six UC campuses for a class of 393 seniors puts this school in the top handful of schools in California.
- Where grads land in the UC system: Berkeley. Within the UC system, more graduates enroll at Berkeley than any other campus — and with Berkeley and UCLA admitting just 82 of this class's 1,133 UC applications, those seats are genuinely hard-won.
- 9 in 10 graduates leave eligible for UC and CSU. 88% finish the A-G courses California's universities require before a student can even apply — most California schools manage about 6 in 10.
- Families don't leave. 97% of students who start the year here finish it here — top-tier retention statewide. Kids stay; that tells you something no test score does.
- One question for any counselor: who should still test? Plenty of strong students skip the SAT/ACT now — but merit scholarships at dozens of colleges still key off scores. Ask how the school decides who should still sit for one.
Composed from this page's data — every claim is backed by a number in the sections below.
🎓 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 family's net price — yours depends on your income — 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 net price →Sources: UC Office of the President (admits); IPEDS net price + College Scorecard 10-yr earnings (cost & payoff). Full campus-by-campus breakdown below.
How Orange County School of the Arts compares for families
One of California's strongest schools for college outcomes.
- ▸ StatewideUC Reach Score of 96 — 78 points above the California median of 18. Ahead of 99% of California high schools.
- ▸ Locally🎓 Top 5% in California on UC Reach — plus 5 more top-ranks.
- ▸ vs Similar SchoolsBeats the peer median (UC Reach Score 96 vs a 20 median) across the 5 most similar nearby schools.
For Parents
Get alerts when Orange County School of the Arts'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.
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 13.8 pp since 2020-21. 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 (+7.2%/yr, Total enrollment)
At per-pupil funding of $ / student:
| Horizon | Projected Total enrollment | Change | Funding impact / yr |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 yr (2027) | ~2,052 | +137 | $0 |
| 3 yr (2029) | ~2,356 | +441 | $0 |
| 5 yr (2031) | ~2,706 | +791 | $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 Orange County School of the Arts really compare on getting kids to college?
We've ranked it #1 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
Santa Ana High School · Valley High · La Quinta High · Foothill High · Orange High School · El Modena 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 Orange County baseline — the demographic tide is moving every CA HS, so a school's gap vs. county is the actionable signal.
Orange County School of the Arts outperformed Orange County on enrollment (school +46.1% vs. county -10.2%) AND maintains 97.4% stability. Replicable model — worth documenting what's working.
48 of 1,822 students who enrolled at Orange County School of the Arts this year didn't maintain continuous enrollment (2.6% 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.
Orange County School of the Arts sent 1,133 applications to the six most selective University of California campuses and 33.4% were admitted, producing a UC Reach Score of 96 — 78 points above the California median of 18, higher than 99% of California high schools. The school produces 20.9 UCLA + UC Berkeley admits per 100 seniors.
+76 pts above peer median (20) · Ranked #1 of 11 similar schools
18
51
96
Higher than 99% of California high schools (980 ranked, ≥50 seniors)
Orange County School of the Arts's UC Reach Score of 96 clears the statewide top-10% cutoff (51) — meaning roughly 96 top-6 UC admits per 100 seniors, well above what most California schools achieve.
In Orange County — a competitive market where the median is already 25 — this still clears the county top-10% bar (71).
For context, the elite tier (top 1%) clears 97 — a gap of 1 pp from where this school sits.
Overall, Orange County School of the Arts's UC Reach is higher than 99% of California high schools (980 ranked).
GPA figures reflect 2024 — UC has not yet released applicant/admit GPA for 2025.
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 | Real shot | Long odds | Filtered out |
| UC Santa Barbara | Strong shot | Moderate | Long odds | Filtered out |
| UC Irvine | Strong shot | Real shot | Long odds | Filtered out |
| UC Davis | Strong shot | Real shot | Moderate | Filtered out |
The numbers behind it
| Campus | Applicant GPA | Admit GPA | Lift ⓘ | Admit rate | vs peer schools @ same GPA ⓘ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UC Berkeley | 4.00 | 4.16 | +0.16 | 15.4% | Peers +0.23 · wider |
| UCLA | 3.98 | 4.14 | +0.16 | 18.6% | Peers +0.27 · wider |
| UC San Diego | 3.95 | 4.06 | +0.11 | 37.4% | Peers +0.28 · wider |
| UC Santa Barbara | 3.93 | 4.04 | +0.11 | 41.9% | Peers +0.29 · wider |
| UC Irvine | 3.91 | 4.00 | +0.09 | 52.3% | Peers +0.26 · wider |
| UC Davis | 3.86 | 3.96 | +0.10 | 44.6% | Peers +0.27 · wider |
📊 Statewide CA admit rates by individual GPA band, 2024 (for reference)
| GPA band | UCB | UCLA | UCSD | UCSB | UCI | UCD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4.00+ | 17.1% | 14.4% | 43.5% | 57.3% | 46.0% | 64.1% |
| 3.70–3.99 | 2.8% | 1.5% | 11.2% | 9.2% | 16.5% | 27.5% |
| 3.30–3.69 | 0.8% | 0.9% | 1.4% | 2.3% | 3.4% | 9.1% |
| 3.00–3.29 | 0.5% | 0.4% | 0.1% | 0.5% | 0.4% | 2.1% |
| < 3.00 | 0.6% | 0.2% | 0.2% | 0.5% | 0.3% | 0.6% |
Where Orange County School of the Arts sits vs. all California schools ⓘ
Overall, this school admits its UC applicants 13.3 points above what their GPAs predict (33.3% actual vs. 20.1% expected), based on 2024 data.
UC Outcomes Trend — 2018–2025
Class size from CDE grade 12 enrollment. Campus-level data — applicant/admit totals may count a student at multiple campuses more than once.
Campus Breakdown — 2025
| Campus | Applicants | Admits | Enrollees | Admit Rate | UC Reach Score | Yield | Avg GPA (App) '24 | Avg GPA (Adm) '24 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UC Berkeley → Elite | 192 | 44 | 21 | 22.9% | 11 | 47.7% | 4.00 | 4.16 |
| UCLA → Elite | 240 | 38 | 15 | 15.8% | 10 | 39.5% | 3.98 | 4.14 |
| UC San Diego → Selective | 210 | 65 | 14 | 31.0% | 17 | 21.5% | 3.95 | 4.06 |
| UC Santa Barbara → Selective | 180 | 79 | 10 | 43.9% | 20 | 12.7% | 3.93 | 4.04 |
| UC Irvine → Selective | 191 | 89 | 11 | 46.6% | 23 | 12.4% | 3.91 | 4.00 |
| UC Davis → | 120 | 63 | 5 | 52.5% | 16 | 7.9% | 3.86 | 3.96 |
What This Means
For School Admins
The full Reach Report for Orange County School of the Arts
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 (96) ranked head-to-head against your closest competitor schools
- ✓Your 5-year enrollment forecast (currently 7.2%/yr) with the revenue at stake
- ✓Student-retention benchmarking vs your county median — and the LCAP evidence to back your goals