Compare with peers
Most similar nearby schools
Arnold O Beckman High School → Woodbridge High School → University High School → Northwood High School → Irvine High School → Compare all similar →A parent's read
- Where graduates go, as the school itself publishes it. Portola High School's own list (Class of 2020 - 2024), admitted: Irvine (397), Riverside (378), Fullerton (246), Santa Barbara (232), San Diego (202).
- The UC pipeline here is real. 421 admissions to the top six UC campuses for a class of 624 seniors puts this school in roughly the top 4% of California high schools.
- Where grads land in the UC system: UC Irvine. More graduates enroll at UC Irvine than any other UC. Berkeley and UCLA admitted 57 of this class's 1,865 UC applications — elite admits are rare everywhere, and the strong middle campuses are where most real outcomes happen.
- Families don't leave. 94% of students who start the year here finish it here — top-tier retention statewide. Kids stay; that tells you something no test score does.
- Worth asking about on a tour: counselor load. One counselor served about 640 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
Portola High School publishes its college acceptances (Class of 2020 - 2024): 30 colleges with per-college counts — the largest counts were admitted to Irvine (397), Riverside (378), Fullerton (246). See the full list ↓
Feeder standing #1 for admits to University of California-Irvine — from its own published counts, ranked per class year
At a glance
- 24 AP courses offered — Elite
- Dual-enrollment program (college credit while in HS)
- 10 calculus classes · 30 physics · 30 chemistry
- AP rigor: 73rd percentile nationally
- SAT/ACT participation: 75th percentile by test-taker volume
- 4-yr grad rate: 93% in 2019 (67th percentile nationally)
Composed from federal CRDC offerings, EDFacts graduation data, and other public data. Full breakdowns below.
Their published college acceptances
College acceptances, Class of 2020 - 2024
Portola High School publishes the colleges that admitted its graduates. What follows is copied from that document — 30 colleges, ordered by the number of students accepted.
The ten largest counts, admitted · Class of 2020 - 2024
Is my kid's college on this list?
The school down the road: University High School
| College | Portola High School | University High School |
|---|---|---|
| Berkeley | ✓ named | ✓ named |
| Boston College | — | ✓ named |
| Boston University | — | ✓ named |
| Carnegie Mellon University | — | ✓ named |
| Columbia University | — | ✓ named |
| Dartmouth College | — | ✓ named |
| Duke University | — | ✓ named |
| Emory University | — | ✓ named |
| Harvard College | — | ✓ named |
| Johns Hopkins University | — | ✓ named |
| MIT | — | ✓ named |
| New York University | — | ✓ named |
Both schools print names, not counts, so this shows which selective colleges each list names.
As the document prints them
College · Accepted · Applied
These graduates were admitted to the colleges above.
Check your kid's odds at these colleges →We'll load the 10 colleges that admitted the most of that class — add your name, email and your child's numbers and we'll see where your child lands at each.
As published, source linked As published by Portola High School — Grade 12 Parent Information Meeting 2025 (Senior Planning Meeting, Class of 2025) ↗. Found at: Slides 4 and 5, 'CSU Acceptances / Class of 2020 - 2024', and slide 7, 'UC Acceptances / Class of 2020 - 2024'.
Keep this page current
Work at Portola 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.
Your badges. Portola High School has 2 badges it can post on its own site, free — each states one claim from this page and links back here. Get the badge code →
Send us links
Links only, please. We can't take file uploads, and we never publish a number without the document it came from.
By sending this you agree that we may email you about your request. We write by email only, and you can unsubscribe at any time.
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
91.6% 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 92.8% had enrolled — CDE publishes a 16-month window alongside the 12-month one, 441 students.
Up 2.8 points from the 2021-22 class (88.8%).
Where the 2022-23 class enrolled
In California — 371 students (78.1%)
Out of state — 64 students (13.5%)
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 Portola High School compares for families
One of California's strongest schools for college outcomes.
- ▸ StatewideUC Reach Score of 67 — 48 points above the California median of 19. Ahead of 96% of California high schools.
- ▸ Locally🎓 Top 5% in California on UC Reach — plus 1 more top-rank.
- ▸ vs Similar SchoolsBeats the peer median (UC Reach Score 67 vs a 39 median) across the 5 most similar nearby schools.
For Parents
Get alerts when Portola High School'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.
Academic rigor
AP + advanced-course offerings
Elite — exceptional AP + advanced course breadth
73rd 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 · 2020-2175th 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?
67th 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
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 8.3 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 (+13.7%/yr, Total enrollment)
At per-pupil funding of $ / student:
| Horizon | Projected Total enrollment | Change | Funding impact / yr |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 yr (2027) | ~3,198 | +384 | $0 |
| 3 yr (2029) | ~4,132 | +1318 | $0 |
| 5 yr (2031) | ~5,339 | +2525 | $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 Portola High School 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
Arnold O Beckman High School · Woodbridge High School · University High · Northwood High School · Irvine High School · Trabuco Hills 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.
Portola High School outperformed Orange County on enrollment (school +55.8% vs. county -9.3%) AND maintains 94.5% stability. Replicable model — worth documenting what's working.
154 of 2,777 students who enrolled at Portola High School this year didn't maintain continuous enrollment (5.5% 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 — Irvine 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: 68.5%
Federal: 4.2%
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 Irvine 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).
Portola High School sent 1,865 applications to the six most selective University of California campuses and 22.6% were admitted, producing a UC Reach Score of 68 (top-6 UC admits per 100 seniors, counting a student at each campus that admitted them) — 49 points above the California median of 19, higher than 96% of California high schools. The school produces 9.1 UCLA + UC Berkeley admits per 100 seniors.
19
39
53
68
Higher than 96% of California high schools (1105 ranked, ≥50 seniors)
Portola High School's UC Reach Score of 68 clears the statewide top-10% cutoff (53) — meaning roughly 67 top-6 UC admits per 100 seniors, well above what most California schools achieve.
Against similar schools, Portola High School stands out clearly — the peer-group median is 39.
For context, the elite tier (top 1%) clears 95 — a gap of 28 pp from where this school sits.
Overall, Portola High School's UC Reach is higher than 96% 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 | 3.97 | 4.20 | +0.23 | 10.4% | Peers +0.24 · matches |
| UCLA | 3.95 | 4.24 | +0.29 | 8.2% | Peers +0.30 · matches |
| UC San Diego | 3.93 | 4.21 | +0.28 | 15.5% | Peers +0.31 · matches |
| UC Santa Barbara | 3.91 | 4.22 | +0.31 | 29.1% | Peers +0.31 · matches |
| UC Irvine | 3.90 | 4.18 | +0.27 | 30.4% | Peers +0.27 · matches |
| UC Davis | 3.92 | 4.13 | +0.21 | 46.6% | Peers +0.24 · 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 Portola High School sits vs. all California schools ⓘ
Overall, this school admits its UC applicants in line with what their GPAs predict (22.6% actual vs. 20.7% expected).
UC Outcomes Trend — 2020–2025
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 | 288 | 30 | 11 | 10.4% | 5 | 36.7% | 3.97 | 4.20 |
| UCLA → Elite | 330 | 27 | 15 | 8.2% | 4 | 55.6% | 3.95 | 4.24 |
| UC San Diego → Selective | 343 | 53 | 14 | 15.5% | 8 | 26.4% | 3.93 | 4.21 |
| UC Santa Barbara → Selective | 299 | 87 | 4 | 29.1% | 14 | 4.6% | 3.91 | 4.22 |
| UC Irvine → Selective | 358 | 109 | 50 | 30.4% | 17 | 45.9% | 3.90 | 4.18 |
| UC Davis → | 247 | 115 | 17 | 46.6% | 18 | 14.8% | 3.92 | 4.13 |
What This Means
For School Admins
The full Reach Report for Portola 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 (67) ranked head-to-head against your closest competitor schools
- ✓Your 5-year enrollment forecast (currently 13.7%/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 assistantPortola High School is a public high school in Irvine, Orange County, California with 624 seniors in the Class of 2025.
Its UC Reach Score is 67 (Excellent, top 6% in California): 421 UC admits (counted at each UC) from a senior class of 624, so a student admitted to several campuses counts at each. That is higher than 96% of California high schools.
In 2025 its students filed 1,865 UC applications and received 421 offers, a UC admit rate of 22.6% (counted at each campus); 111 enrolled.
More of its graduates enrolled at UC Irvine than at any other UC campus (50 in 2025); UC Berkeley and UCLA together admitted 57.
77% of its graduates completed the A-G courses required for UC and CSU eligibility (California median 56%).
92% of its 2022-23 graduates enrolled in college within 12 months (California Department of Education College-Going Rate).
It has about 640 students per school counselor.
Enrollment was 2,814 students in 2026, up 226% since 2018.
Portola High School publishes a college acceptances list for the Class of 2020 - 2024: 30 colleges, with per-college counts; the largest counts are Irvine (397), Riverside (378), Fullerton (246), Santa Barbara (232), San Diego (202). Source: Grade 12 Parent Information Meeting 2025 (Senior Planning Meeting, Class of 2025).
#1 for admits to UC Irvine.
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 Portola High School's UC Reach Score? Portola High School's UC Reach Score is 67 (Excellent, top 6% in California): 421 UC admits (counted at each UC) from a senior class of 624, so a student admitted to several campuses counts at each. That is higher than 96% of California high schools.
How many students from Portola High School got into a UC? In 2025 its students filed 1,865 UC applications and received 421 offers, a UC admit rate of 22.6% (counted at each campus); 111 enrolled.
Which UC campus do Portola High School graduates attend most? More of Portola High School's graduates enrolled at UC Irvine than at any other UC campus (50 in 2025); UC Berkeley and UCLA together admitted 57.
What percentage of Portola High School graduates complete the A-G requirements? 77% of its graduates completed the A-G courses required for UC and CSU eligibility (California median 56%).
What percentage of Portola High School graduates go to college? 92% of its 2022-23 graduates enrolled in college within 12 months (California Department of Education College-Going Rate).
Where do Portola High School graduates go to college? Portola High School publishes a college acceptances list for the Class of 2020 - 2024: 30 colleges, with per-college counts; the largest counts are Irvine (397), Riverside (378), Fullerton (246), Santa Barbara (232), San Diego (202). Source: Grade 12 Parent Information Meeting 2025 (Senior Planning Meeting, Class of 2025).
How many students attend Portola High School? Enrollment was 2,814 students in 2026, up 226% 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 Portola High School?
When a parent asks an AI assistant about Portola High School, the answer is built from a handful of sources, and Reach is often one of them. We will send your school a short report on what AI says about Portola High School and where it comes from. The first report is free.
Request the free report
Related reading
From the data · October 2, 2026
From the data · October 2, 2026
California counties · October 2026