Palos Verdes Peninsula High School
Rolling Hills Estat · Los Angeles County · Palos Verdes Peninsula Unified · Public
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South High → Torrance High School → Palos Verdes High School → West High School → North High School → Compare all similar →A parent's read
- Where graduates go, as the school itself publishes it. Palos Verdes Peninsula High School publishes where its graduates go (Class of 2026): 140 colleges, including Boston College, Boston University, Brown University, Carnegie Mellon University.
- The UC pipeline here is real. 404 admissions to the top six UC campuses for a class of 571 seniors puts this school in roughly the top 3% 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.
- 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.
- 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 graduates go — as published by the school
Palos Verdes Peninsula High School publishes where its graduates enrolled (Class of 2026): 140 colleges. See the full list ↓
At a glance
- 34 AP courses offered — Elite
- Gifted & talented program
- 6 calculus classes · 4 physics · 23 chemistry
- AP rigor: 86th percentile nationally
- SAT/ACT participation: 66th percentile by test-taker volume
- 4-yr grad rate: 99% in 2019 (Top 0.7% of US high schools by 4-yr grad rate)
Composed from federal CRDC offerings, EDFacts graduation data, and other public data. Full breakdowns below.
Their published matriculation list
Where the Class of 2026 enrolled
Palos Verdes Peninsula High School publishes where its graduates enrolled. What follows is copied from that document — 140 colleges, in the document's own order.
Ivy+ and most selective · 8
Brown University · Cornell University · Dartmouth College · Massachusetts Institute of Technology · Stanford University · University of Chicago · University of Pennsylvania · Yale University
University of California · 9
University of California-Berkeley · University of California-Davis · University of California-Irvine · University of California-Los Angeles · University of California-Merced · University of California-Riverside · University of California-San Diego · University of California-Santa Barbara · University of California-Santa Cruz
Cal State · 12
California Polytechnic State University-San Luis Obispo · California State Polytechnic University-Pomona · California State University-Chico · California State University-Dominguez Hills · California State University-Fullerton · California State University-Long Beach · California State University-Northridge · California State University-Sacramento · California State University-San Marcos · San Diego State University · San Francisco State University · San Jose State University
Other California · 17
Art Center College of Design · Biola University · California Baptist University · Chapman University · Harvey Mudd College · Loyola Marymount University · Mount Saint Mary's University · Occidental College · Pepperdine University · Pitzer College · Pomona College · Santa Clara University · Santa Monica College · University of San Diego · and 3 more below
Out of state · 73
American University · Arizona State University · Aurora University · Bard College · Boston College · Boston Conservatory At Berklee · Boston University · Brigham Young University · Brigham Young University-Idaho · Bucknell University · Carnegie Mellon University · Case Western Reserve University · Chaminade University of Honolulu · Clemson University · and 59 more below
Not matched to a college page · 21
American University of Health Sciences · Bocconi University · Cerritos College · College of the Siskiyous · Cuesta College · El Camino Community College District · Life Chiropractic College West - Bellevue University · Long Beach City College · Los Angeles College of Music · Los Angeles Harbor College · McGill University · Norwegian University of Science & Technology · Santa Barbara City College · Sophia University · and 7 more below
Is my kid's college on this list?
The school down the road: Palos Verdes High School
| College | Palos Verdes Peninsula High School | Palos Verdes High School |
|---|---|---|
| Boston College | ✓ named | ✓ named |
| Boston University | ✓ named | ✓ named |
| Brown University | ✓ named | ✓ named |
| Carnegie Mellon University | ✓ named | — |
| Cornell University | ✓ named | ✓ named |
| Dartmouth College | ✓ named | ✓ named |
| Emory University | ✓ named | — |
| Georgetown University | — | ✓ named |
| Harvard College | — | ✓ named |
| Massachusetts Institute of Technology | ✓ named | — |
| New York University | ✓ named | ✓ named |
| Northeastern University | ✓ named | ✓ named |
Both schools print names, not counts, so this shows which selective colleges each list names.
All 140 colleges, as the document prints them
and 110 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 Palos Verdes Peninsula High School — DESTINATIONS (College Career Center) ↗. Found at: Collapsible section "CLASS OF 2026 LIST OF COLLEGES ATTENDING" — the bolded entries in the accepted-colleges table.
Keep this page current
Work at Palos Verdes Peninsula 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.
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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
89% 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 91.8% had enrolled — CDE publishes a 16-month window alongside the 12-month one, 501 students.
Up 2 points from the 2021-22 class (87%).
Where the 2022-23 class enrolled
In California — 357 students (65.4%)
Out of state — 129 students (23.6%)
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 Palos Verdes Peninsula High School compares for families
One of California's strongest schools for college outcomes.
- ▸ StatewideUC Reach Score of 71 — 52 points above the California median of 19. Ahead of 97% 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 71 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
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 · 2020-2166th 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?
Top 0.7% of US high schools by 4-yr grad rate
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
Lower-need school
Not Title I eligible (FRPL < 25%)
<25% of students qualify for free/reduced lunch. Well below the Title I threshold; expect a higher-income student body on average.
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 7.0 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 (-2.2%/yr, Total enrollment)
At per-pupil funding of $ / student:
| Horizon | Projected Total enrollment | Change | Funding impact / yr |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 yr (2027) | ~1,857 | -42 | $0 |
| 3 yr (2029) | ~1,776 | -123 | $0 |
| 5 yr (2031) | ~1,698 | -201 | $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 Palos Verdes Peninsula High School 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
South High · Torrance High School · Palos Verdes High School · West High · North High · Leuzinger 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 Los Angeles County baseline — the demographic tide is moving every CA HS, so a school's gap vs. county is the actionable signal.
Palos Verdes Peninsula High School's enrollment is tracking Los Angeles County's baseline (-8.1% vs. -6.2%), and 95.9% stability is elite. The demographic tide is the headwind; you're holding your share.
87 of 2,107 students who enrolled at Palos Verdes Peninsula High School this year didn't maintain continuous enrollment (4.1% 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 — Palos Verdes Peninsula 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: 57.5%
Federal: 5.2%
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 Palos Verdes Peninsula 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).
Palos Verdes Peninsula High School sent 1,565 applications to the six most selective University of California campuses and 25.8% were admitted, producing a UC Reach Score of 71 (top-6 UC admits per 100 seniors, counting a student at each campus that admitted them) — 52 points above the California median of 19, higher than 97% of California high schools. The school produces 11.7 UCLA + UC Berkeley admits per 100 seniors.
19
26
53
71
Higher than 97% of California high schools (1105 ranked, ≥50 seniors)
Palos Verdes Peninsula High School's UC Reach Score of 71 clears the statewide top-10% cutoff (53) — meaning roughly 70 top-6 UC admits per 100 seniors, well above what most California schools achieve.
In Los Angeles County — a competitive market where the median is already 25 — this still clears the county top-10% bar (56).
For context, the elite tier (top 1%) clears 95 — a gap of 24 pp from where this school sits.
Overall, Palos Verdes Peninsula High School's UC Reach is higher than 97% of California high schools (1105 ranked).
| Campus | Entered | Finished in 4 yrs | Finished in 6 yrs |
|---|---|---|---|
| UC Berkeley | 30 | 90% | 93% |
| UC Riverside | 22 | 68% | 86% |
| UCLA | 20 | 85% | 95% |
| UC Irvine | 20 | 70% | 90% |
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 | 4.07 | 4.22 | +0.16 | 17.8% | Peers +0.20 · wider |
| UCLA | 4.03 | 4.24 | +0.22 | 9.3% | Peers +0.25 · matches |
| UC San Diego | 4.01 | 4.25 | +0.24 | 20.1% | Peers +0.26 · matches |
| UC Santa Barbara | 4.01 | 4.26 | +0.25 | 33.3% | Peers +0.26 · matches |
| UC Irvine | 3.99 | 4.22 | +0.24 | 40.5% | Peers +0.23 · matches |
| UC Davis | 4.03 | 4.22 | +0.19 | 34.5% | Peers +0.20 · matches |
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 Palos Verdes Peninsula High School sits vs. all California schools ⓘ
Overall, this school admits its UC applicants in line with what their GPAs predict (25.8% actual vs. 22.4% 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 | 236 | 42 | 25 | 17.8% | 7 | 59.5% | 4.07 | 4.22 |
| UCLA → Elite | 270 | 25 | 14 | 9.3% | 4 | 56.0% | 4.03 | 4.24 |
| UC San Diego → Selective | 289 | 58 | 17 | 20.1% | 10 | 29.3% | 4.01 | 4.25 |
| UC Santa Barbara → Selective | 267 | 89 | 21 | 33.3% | 16 | 23.6% | 4.01 | 4.26 |
| UC Irvine → Selective | 274 | 111 | 18 | 40.5% | 19 | 16.2% | 3.99 | 4.22 |
| UC Davis → | 229 | 79 | —† | 34.5% | 14 | — | 4.03 | 4.22 |
What This Means
For School Admins
The full Reach Report for Palos Verdes Peninsula 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 UC Reach Score (71) ranked head-to-head against your closest competitor schools
- ✓Your 5-year enrollment forecast (currently -2.2%/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 assistantPalos Verdes Peninsula High School is a public high school in Rolling Hills Estat, Los Angeles County, California with 571 seniors in the Class of 2025.
Its UC Reach Score is 71 (Excellent, top 6% in California): 404 UC admits (counted at each UC) from a senior class of 571, so a student admitted to several campuses counts at each. That is higher than 97% of California high schools.
In 2025 its students filed 1,565 UC applications and received 404 offers, a UC admit rate of 25.8% (counted at each campus); 95 enrolled.
More of its graduates enrolled at UC Berkeley than at any other UC campus (25 in 2025); UC Berkeley and UCLA together admitted 67.
88% of its graduates completed the A-G courses required for UC and CSU eligibility (California median 56%).
89% 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, 93% earned a degree within six years (cohort entering 2019).
It has about 237 students per school counselor.
Enrollment was 1,899 students in 2026, down 19% since 2018.
Palos Verdes Peninsula High School publishes a matriculation list (where its graduates enrolled) for the Class of 2026: 140 colleges. Source: DESTINATIONS (College Career Center).
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 Palos Verdes Peninsula High School's UC Reach Score? Palos Verdes Peninsula High School's UC Reach Score is 71 (Excellent, top 6% in California): 404 UC admits (counted at each UC) from a senior class of 571, so a student admitted to several campuses counts at each. That is higher than 97% of California high schools.
How many students from Palos Verdes Peninsula High School got into a UC? In 2025 its students filed 1,565 UC applications and received 404 offers, a UC admit rate of 25.8% (counted at each campus); 95 enrolled.
Which UC campus do Palos Verdes Peninsula High School graduates attend most? More of Palos Verdes Peninsula High School's graduates enrolled at UC Berkeley than at any other UC campus (25 in 2025); UC Berkeley and UCLA together admitted 67.
What percentage of Palos Verdes Peninsula High School graduates complete the A-G requirements? 88% of its graduates completed the A-G courses required for UC and CSU eligibility (California median 56%).
What percentage of Palos Verdes Peninsula High School graduates go to college? 89% of its 2022-23 graduates enrolled in college within 12 months (California Department of Education College-Going Rate).
Where do Palos Verdes Peninsula High School graduates go to college? Palos Verdes Peninsula High School publishes a matriculation list (where its graduates enrolled) for the Class of 2026: 140 colleges. Source: DESTINATIONS (College Career Center).
How many students attend Palos Verdes Peninsula High School? Enrollment was 1,899 students in 2026, down 19% 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 Palos Verdes Peninsula High School?
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