Samueli Academy
Santa Ana · Orange County · Orange County Department of Education · Public
Shareable scorecard →Compare with peers
Most similar nearby schools
Polaris High School → Magnolia Science Academy-Santa Ana → Legacy Magnet Academy → Estancia High School → Ocean View High School → Compare all similar →A parent's read
- The UC pipeline here is real. 55 admissions to the top six UC campuses for a class of 136 seniors puts this school in roughly the top 18% 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.
- Families don't leave. 95% of students who start the year here finish it here — top-tier retention statewide. Kids stay; that tells you something no test score does.
- Elite admits are rare — here and everywhere. Berkeley and UCLA admitted 7 of this class's 162 UC applications. The strong middle campuses — San Diego, Santa Barbara, Irvine, Davis — are where most real UC outcomes happen.
- 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.
Keep this page current
Work at Samueli Academy? 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.
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
82.8% 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 85.2% had enrolled — CDE publishes a 16-month window alongside the 12-month one, 104 students.
Down 1.3 points from the 2021-22 class (84.1%).
Where the 2022-23 class enrolled
In California — 95 students (77.9%)
Out of state — 6 students (4.9%)
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 Samueli Academy compares for families
Above-average college outcomes statewide.
- ▸ StatewideUC Reach Score of 40 — 21 points above the California median of 19. Ahead of 82% of California high schools.
- ▸ vs Similar SchoolsBeats the peer median (UC Reach Score 40 vs a 17 median) across the 5 most similar nearby schools.
For Parents
Get alerts when Samueli Academy'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 11.2 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 (+7.5%/yr, Total enrollment)
At per-pupil funding of $ / student:
| Horizon | Projected Total enrollment | Change | Funding impact / yr |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 yr (2027) | ~907 | +63 | $0 |
| 3 yr (2029) | ~1,048 | +204 | $0 |
| 5 yr (2031) | ~1,211 | +367 | $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 Samueli Academy really compare on getting kids to college?
We've ranked it #4 of 10 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
Polaris High School · Magnolia Science Academy-Santa Ana · Legacy Magnet Academy · Estancia High School · Ocean View High School · Los Amigos 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.
Samueli Academy outperformed Orange County on enrollment (school +8.0% vs. county -6.0%) AND maintains 94.9% stability. Replicable model — worth documenting what's working.
30 of 594 students who enrolled at Samueli Academy this year didn't maintain continuous enrollment (5.1% 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 — Orange County Department 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.
Local: 57.3%
Federal: 20.3%
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 Orange County Department 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).
Samueli Academy sent 162 applications to the six most selective University of California campuses and 34.0% were admitted, producing a UC Reach Score of 40 (top-6 UC admits per 100 seniors, counting a student at each campus that admitted them) — 21 points above the California median of 19, higher than 82% of California high schools. The school produces 5.1 UCLA + UC Berkeley admits per 100 seniors.
19
53
40
Higher than 82% of California high schools (1105 ranked, ≥50 seniors)
Samueli Academy's UC Reach Score of 40 is in the top quartile statewide (median 19; top 25% bar 33) — but it's still below the top-10% bar of 53.
For context, the elite tier (top 1%) clears 95 — a gap of 55 pp from where this school sits.
Overall, Samueli Academy's UC Reach is higher than 82% 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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 ⓘ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UCLA (2024) | 3.90 | 4.22 | +0.33 | 14.3% | Peers +0.32 · matches |
| UC San Diego | 3.92 | 4.20 | +0.28 | 45.7% | Peers +0.31 · matches |
| UC Santa Barbara | 3.85 | 4.24 | +0.38 | 28.6% | Peers +0.34 · steeper |
| UC Irvine | 3.92 | 4.14 | +0.23 | 38.5% | Peers +0.27 · wider |
| UC Davis | 3.97 | 4.12 | +0.14 | 68.8% | Peers +0.22 · wider |
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 Samueli Academy sits vs. all California schools ⓘ
Overall, this school admits its UC applicants 13.7 points above what their GPAs predict (34.0% actual vs. 20.3% 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 | 18 | 3 | —† | 16.7% | 2 | — | 3.95 | —† |
| UCLA → Elite | 33 | 4 | —† | 12.1% | 3 | — | 4.01 | —† |
| UC San Diego → Selective | 35 | 16 | —† | 45.7% | 12 | — | 3.92 | 4.20 |
| UC Santa Barbara → Selective | 21 | 6 | —† | 28.6% | 4 | — | 3.85 | 4.24 |
| UC Irvine → Selective | 39 | 15 | 8 | 38.5% | 11 | 53.3% | 3.92 | 4.14 |
| UC Davis → | 16 | 11 | —† | 68.8% | 8 | — | 3.97 | 4.12 |
What This Means
For School Admins
The full Reach Report for Samueli Academy
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 (40) ranked head-to-head against your closest competitor schools
- ✓Your 5-year enrollment forecast (currently 7.5%/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 assistantSamueli Academy is a public high school in Santa Ana, Orange County, California with 136 seniors in the Class of 2025.
Its UC Reach Score is 40 (Above average, top 25% in California): 55 UC admits (counted at each UC) from a senior class of 136, so a student admitted to several campuses counts at each. That is higher than 82% of California high schools.
In 2025 its students filed 162 UC applications and received 55 offers, a UC admit rate of 34.0% (counted at each campus); 8 enrolled.
More of its graduates enrolled at UC Irvine than at any other UC campus (8 in 2025); UC Berkeley and UCLA together admitted 7.
70% of its graduates completed the A-G courses required for UC and CSU eligibility (California median 56%).
83% of its 2022-23 graduates enrolled in college within 12 months (California Department of Education College-Going Rate).
Enrollment was 844 students in 2026, up 60% since 2018.
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 Samueli Academy's UC Reach Score? Samueli Academy's UC Reach Score is 40 (Above average, top 25% in California): 55 UC admits (counted at each UC) from a senior class of 136, so a student admitted to several campuses counts at each. That is higher than 82% of California high schools.
How many students from Samueli Academy got into a UC? In 2025 its students filed 162 UC applications and received 55 offers, a UC admit rate of 34.0% (counted at each campus); 8 enrolled.
Which UC campus do Samueli Academy graduates attend most? More of Samueli Academy's graduates enrolled at UC Irvine than at any other UC campus (8 in 2025); UC Berkeley and UCLA together admitted 7.
What percentage of Samueli Academy graduates complete the A-G requirements? 70% of its graduates completed the A-G courses required for UC and CSU eligibility (California median 56%).
What percentage of Samueli Academy graduates go to college? 83% of its 2022-23 graduates enrolled in college within 12 months (California Department of Education College-Going Rate).
How many students attend Samueli Academy? Enrollment was 844 students in 2026, up 60% 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 Samueli Academy?
When a parent asks an AI assistant about Samueli Academy, 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 Samueli Academy 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