Palma High School
Salinas · Monterey County · Catholic religious-affiliated
Compare with peers
Most similar nearby schools
Santa Catalina School → Monte Vista Christian Hs → Presentation High School → California Crosspoint High School → Oakwood School → Compare all similar →📋 At a glance
- Program details not reported to CRDC
- Academic signals not yet ingested for this school
Composed from federal CRDC offerings, EDFacts ACGR, and other public data. Full breakdowns below.
🎓 Where grads go
UC admits by campus · Class of 2025
Source: University of California Office of the President, Admissions by Source School. Full campus-by-campus breakdown below.
How Palma High School compares for families
Mid-pack college outcomes within California.
- ▸ Statewide22.7% UC Reach — right around the California median of 18.1%.
- ▸ vs Similar SchoolsTrails the peer median (22.7% UC Reach vs 43.9% median) across the 5 most similar nearby schools.
For Parents
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Get an email when Palma High School's numbers change — new admissions results, enrollment shifts, test scores. A few updates a year, no spam.
No SBAC data for private schools — and that's not the metric you want anyway
California's Smarter Balanced (CAASPP) assessment is administered by the state, by statute, to public & charter schools only. Private schools don't sit for it. That's why the SBAC card is missing on this profile — not a data gap on our side, a deliberate scope of the state's testing program.
For private schools, UC Reach is the stronger academic signal anyway. SBAC measures grade-11 inputs (proficiency on a state standard); UC Reach measures outputs (who actually got into the most selective UCs). For private-school families weighing tuition against college outcomes, the outputs are the relevant signal.
Scroll up to the UC Reach card for Palma High School's 2025 number, statewide percentile, and 5-year trend.
Enrollment trend & projection
If this trend holds (+3.4%/yr, Total enrollment)
At tuition of $ / student:
| Horizon | Projected Total enrollment | Change | Tuition impact / yr |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 yr (2026) | ~604 | +20 | $0 |
| 3 yr (2028) | ~645 | +61 | $0 |
| 5 yr (2030) | ~689 | +105 | $0 |
Straight-line extrapolation of the recent annual rate — a what-if, not a forecast of intent. Edit the figure to match your school.
Palma High School — Enrollment & Outcomes Snapshot
Private · Catholic · Salinas · vs. 10 most similar nearby schools
- ▸On UC Reach Score, Palma High School sits near the bottom of its similar-school group (ranked #9 of 10): 23 vs. a peer median of 44.
- ▸Palma High School's UC Reach Score has declined meaningfully from a peak of 40 in 2020 to 23 in 2025 — a 17-point drop that warrants attention. Multi-year UC Reach declines of this size often signal something specific (leadership change, comp-program shift, demographic move) rather than year-to-year noise. This is the kind of trajectory an Enrollment Trend Audit unpacks.
- ▸Senior-class enrollment is down 5% (93→88 from 2020 to 2025), outpacing the peer-group median of -18%.
- ▸Enrollment has been growing (+3.7%/yr); projects to ~652 by 2028.
Enrollment projection
Your school vs. its 10 most similar nearby schools
| School | Type | Size | UC Reach Score | Enroll. trend |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Palma High School | Private · Catholic | 584 | 23 | -5% |
| Peer-group median | 44 | -18% | ||
| Santa Catalina School | Private · Catholic | 439 | 76 | -22% |
| Monte Vista Christian Hs | Private · Other religious | 836 | 40 | -34% |
| Presentation High School | Private · Catholic | 545 | 43 | -17% |
| California Crosspoint High School | Private · Other religious | 536 | 83 | -36% |
| Oakwood School | Private · secular | 546 | 88 | +25% |
| Cristo Rey San Jose Jesuit Hs | Private · Catholic | 435 | 35 | -14% |
| Moreau Catholic High School | Private · Catholic | 806 | 44 | -18% |
| Central Catholic High School | Private · Catholic | 422 | 14 | +22% |
| Granada Islamic School | Private · Other religious | 456 | — | +450% |
| Saint Joseph-Notre Dame Hs | Private · Catholic | 395 | 49 | -27% |
UC Reach Score = top-6 UC admits ÷ senior class (can exceed 100 when students are admitted to multiple campuses). Enrollment trend = first-to-latest grade-12 change on file. Similar schools matched on proximity, size, type, and religious orientation. Methodology →
Financial profile — IRS Form 990, FY2023
From 4 years of Form 990 filings via ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer (free public IRS data). The school's tax filings show financial scale, fundraising health, and endowment trajectory — signals that drive board-level conversations about tuition pricing, financial-aid capacity, and capital projects.
Source: IRS Form 990 via ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer (EIN 464896381). Tuition-per-student is total program-service revenue divided by latest enrollment — a rough average that includes auxiliary revenue (athletics, food service, etc.); the actual published tuition can differ. Form 990 is filed annually under penalty of perjury, so the financial scale figures are authoritative.
Diocesan context — Diocese of Monterey
DioceseDiocese of Monterey is the canonical governance body for Catholic schools in this region — board policy, tuition guidance, and shared services typically originate here. Visit the diocesan website →
Financial figures aren't shown because Catholic (arch)dioceses don't file IRS Form 990 — they're covered by the USCCB Group Ruling (GEN 0928), which exempts dioceses, parishes, and parochial schools from individual filing. School counts above are hand-compiled from each diocese's published schools-department information.
Palma High School sent 124 applications to the six most selective University of California campuses and 16.1% were admitted, producing a UC Reach Score of 23 — 5 points above the California median of 18, higher than 62% of California high schools..
-21 pts vs. peer median (44) · Ranked #9 of 10 similar schools
18
44
51
23
Higher than 62% of California high schools (978 ranked, ≥50 seniors)
Palma High School's UC Reach Score of 23 is above the California median (18). The top 10% of CA schools achieve 51 or higher.
Against similar schools, Palma High School trails the peer-group median (44) — even though it looks strong vs. the state average.
For context, the elite tier (top 1%) clears 97 — a gap of 75 pp from where this school sits.
Overall, Palma High School's UC Reach is higher than 62% of California high schools (978 ranked).
Private-school figures come from the California Private School Affidavit. Per CDE, inclusion in private-school data is not an evaluation, approval, or endorsement of a school.
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 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 San Diego (2020) | 3.88 | 4.03 | +0.15 | 50.0% | Peers +0.30 · wider |
| UC Santa Barbara (2021) | 3.88 | 4.28 | +0.40 | 19.2% | Peers +0.33 · steeper |
| UC Irvine (2018) | 3.81 | 4.28 | +0.48 | 31.2% | Peers +0.34 · steeper |
| UC Davis | 3.90 | 4.22 | +0.32 | 33.3% | Peers +0.25 · steeper |
📊 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 Palma High School sits vs. all California schools ⓘ
Overall, this school admits its UC applicants in line with what their GPAs predict (23.2% actual vs. 24.7% 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 | 18 | —† | —† | —† | —† | — | 3.88 | —† |
| UCLA → Elite | 22 | —† | —† | —† | —† | — | 3.86 | —† |
| UC San Diego → Selective | 18 | 3 | —† | 16.7% | 3 | — | 3.80 | —† |
| UC Santa Barbara → Selective | 26 | 7 | 3 | 26.9% | 8 | 42.9% | 3.85 | —† |
| UC Irvine → Selective | 19 | 5 | —† | 26.3% | 6 | — | 3.84 | —† |
| UC Davis → | 21 | 5 | —† | 23.8% | 6 | — | 3.90 | 4.22 |