Sutter High School

Sutter · Sutter County · Sutter Union High · Public

Public Sutter County 🏛 Sutter Union High → ~183 seniors CDS 5171449…
📄 Shareable scorecard →

📚AP rigor: 78th percentile nationally 📖16 AP courses 🎓97% 4-yr grad rate

📋 At a glance

Programs & features
  • 📚 16 AP courses offered — Elite
  • 🔢 2 calculus classes · 1 physics · 6 chemistry
Academic signals
  • 🎓 AP rigor: 78th percentile nationally
  • 📝 SAT/ACT participation: Bottom 7% by test-taker volume
  • 🎓 4-yr grad rate: 97% (90th percentile nationally)

Composed from federal CRDC offerings, EDFacts graduation data, and other public data. Full breakdowns below.

🎓 Where grads go — and what it costs & pays

UC Reach Score
4
Below the CA median below the state median
Top-6 UC admits per 100 seniors in the Class of 2024 — counts each campus admit, so a student admitted to several UCs counts more than once (which is why a strong school can score over 100).

UC admits by campus · Class of 2024

UCSB
5 admitted
Net $16,109/yr avg
Grads earn $74,915 @10yr
UCD
3 admitted
Net $14,741/yr avg
Grads earn $80,838 @10yr

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.

You've seen Sutter High School. What are your child's real college odds? Check any college in 10 seconds — no email needed — then get the free Family Decision Report: Reach / Match / Likely + your real net price for every college on their list. Check odds →
💡

How Sutter High School compares for families

Real college outcomes data available below.

  • StatewideUC Reach Score of 4 — 14 points below the California median of 18.
  • vs Similar SchoolsRight at the peer median (UC Reach Score 6) across the 5 most similar nearby schools.

For Parents

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🎓 Academic rigor

AP + advanced-course offerings

Elite — exceptional AP + advanced course breadth

78th percentile nationally

50th 90th ↑ this school
Less rigorMore rigorMost rigor
AP courses offered
16
Math ✓ · Science ✓
Students taking AP courses
96
≈13 per 100 students · uptake, not just offerings
Advanced math classes
5
2 calculus · 3 advanced
Lab science classes
7
1 physics · 6 chemistry
Other rigor signals
No dual-enrollment or gifted program reported

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 · 2020-21

Bottom 7% by test-taker volume

50th 90th
SAT/ACT test-takers
4
11th-12th graders who took 1+ college admissions test
Test-taking intensity
0.5
takers per 100 students in grades 9-12
Compared against
18,426
US high schools reporting SAT/ACT participation

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?

90th percentile nationally

50th 90th
4-year graduation rate
97%
Range: 95–100%
4-year cohort size
159
Students in the 9th-grade entry class tracked over 4 years
Compared against
17,988
US high schools reporting 4-year ACGR

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

Mixed-income school

Below Title I eligibility threshold (FRPL < 35%)

25.3%
FRPL rate — % of students who qualify for the federal Free or Reduced-Price Lunch program. This is the underlying federal income-eligibility signal Title I designations are computed from (ESEA Sec. 1113).
0% (no FRPL) 35% TA · 40% Schoolwide 100% (universal FRPL)

25-34% of students qualify for free/reduced lunch. Below the federal Title I threshold but a meaningful share of the population is income-eligible for free lunch.

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.

About half of students read and write at grade level — about the state norm.
About 1 in 4 students do math at grade level — above the state norm.
ELA — met or exceeded
n = 157
52.2%
incl. 19.1% exceeded
-3.0 pts vs. Sutter County median (55.2%) · CA median 54.3% · Top 10% statewide ≥ 79.3%
Math — met or exceeded
n = 156
26.9%
incl. 9.0% exceeded
+10.3 pts above Sutter County median (16.6%) · CA median 21.1% · Top 10% statewide ≥ 53.6%

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

White 59%
Hispanic / Latino 27% -2.5
Two or more 8%
Asian 5% +1.9
American Indian 1%

Program subgroups

Students w/ disabilities 24% -6.1
Socioeconomically disadv. 7% -1.6

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.

Kids show up: 17% are chronically absent versus about 23% statewide — engagement most schools would envy.
Chronic absent
17.3%
128 of 738 students

Absenteeism is up 8.9 pp since 2016-17. A rising absenteeism trend often precedes formal departure — worth investigating which subgroups are driving it.

Sutter County median
17.1% · school is worse than 57% of 7 HS
Statewide median
22.9%
Chronic absenteeism by year (raw %)

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

Total enrollment (9–12)
755 (2018)733 (2026)
-2.9%
Grade 12 (graduating class)
177 (2018)154 (2026)
-13.0%

If this trend holds (-0.2%/yr, Total enrollment)

At per-pupil funding of $ / student:

Horizon Projected Total enrollment Change Funding impact / yr
1 yr (2027) ~732 -1 $0
3 yr (2029) ~729 -4 $0
5 yr (2031) ~726 -7 $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 Sutter High School really compare on getting kids to college?

We've ranked it #7 of 9 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.

The full head-to-head table — every peer school's UC Reach, side by side.
Enrollment trend + 3-year projection — is this school growing or quietly shrinking?
The plain-English read on what it all means for your family.

Your similar-school group includes

Sutter Peak Charter Academy · Live Oak High School · Marysville High School · Gridley High School · River Valley High School · Yuba City High School · +4 more

Objective, government-grade data — no school pays us for placement. We'll email you the snapshot and a few alerts a year. Unsubscribe anytime.

Enrollment stability & demand — 2024-25

Two complementary signals: retention (do students stay once enrolled?) and demand (are families choosing the school?). Read against the Sutter County baseline — the demographic tide is moving every CA HS, so a school's gap vs. county is the actionable signal.

Families don't leave: 96% of students who start the year finish it here — top-tier retention statewide.
Critical
Sharp demand downturn hidden by elite retention.

Sutter High School's enrollment is shrinking 10.8× the county rate (school -13.0% vs. county -1.2%). Stability of 95.8% means every family you keep is one fewer; the leverage is at recruitment, not retention. This is the case the high stability number alone would hide.

-13.0%  school enrollment (2018–2026)
-1.2%  Sutter County baseline
-11.8pp  gap vs. county
95.8%  retention (county median 87.5%)
Enrollment — indexed to 100 at 2018
Stability rate by year (raw %)
Stability rate
95.8%
711 of 742 students

31 of 742 students who enrolled at Sutter High School this year didn't maintain continuous enrollment (4.2% non-stability). Mid-year transfers, dropouts, and other exits are all counted.

Sutter County median
87.5% · school is in the 100th percentile of 7 HS
Statewide median
87.2% · in the 93rd percentile of 1,689 HS

Stability by student group

White (451) 96.9%
Socio. disadvantaged (215) 91.6%
Hispanic / Latino (203) 93.1%
Students w/ disabilities (58) 94.8%
Two or more races (50) 100.0%
Asian (29) 93.1%

Nearest peer high schools

Sutter Peak Charter Academy 87.5% Live Oak High School 88.3% Marysville High School 83.3% Gridley High School 93.9% River Valley High School 81.6%

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 — Sutter Union High (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.

Total revenue
$11.0M
+24.4% since FY2017
Per-pupil revenue
$13,560
808 students enrolled
Revenue mix
State: 63.1%
Local: 29.9%
Federal: 7.0%
Instruction share
49.3%
of current spending · $6,129/pupil
Long-term debt
$18.3M
-15.0% since FY2017
Total revenue by year ($M)
Total expenditure by year ($M)

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 Sutter Union High 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).

📊 Key takeaway · Class of 2024

Sutter High School sent 43 applications to the six most selective University of California campuses and 18.6% were admitted, producing a UC Reach Score of 414 points below the California median of 18, higher than 4% of California high schools..

University of California outcomes · Class of 2024
UC Reach Score
4
Below the CA median Top 96% of CA high schools
8 admits / 183 seniors
-2 pts vs. peer median (6) · Ranked #7 of 9 similar schools
5-year trend
2019 · 8 2024 · 4
Where this sits on the California curve
CA median
18
Peer median
6
Top 10%
49
This school
4
050100
CA median 18 Top 10% ≥ 49 This school 4

Higher than 4% of California high schools (980 ranked, ≥50 seniors)

📊 What this number means

Sutter High School's UC Reach Score of 4 is below the California median (18). The top 10% of CA schools achieve 49 or higher.

Overall, Sutter High School's UC Reach is higher than 4% of California high schools (980 ranked).

UC Application Reach Score
23
43 applications
In context: CA median 75 · Top 10% statewide ≥ 236 · higher than 5% of CA HS.
UC Admit Rate
18.6%
8 / 43 applications
In context: CA median 26.6% · Top 10% statewide ≥ 39.9% · higher than 10% of CA HS.
UC Yield Rate
N/A
None enrolled of 8 admitted
Yield vs. Enrollment Reach: Yield answers "of UC admits, what % chose UC?" — denominator is just the admits. A small admitted cohort can post a low yield even when the school sends a healthy share of its class to UC.
UC Enrollment Reach Score
N/A
None enrollees / 183 seniors
Enrollment Reach vs. Yield: Reach answers "of the whole senior class, what share ended up at UC?" — denominator is everyone. High Yield with low Enrollment Reach is common at elite privates: most admits matriculate, but the school sends most of its class to non-UC selective colleges.
Student-Counselor Ratio
Each counselor juggles about 366 students — above the level experts recommend. Ask how junior-year college advising is handled.
366:1
2.0 FTE counselors · 733 students
In context: CA median 338:1 · ASCA target 250:1.
A-G Completion
Only 4 in 10 of graduates finish the courses UC and CSU require — below the state norm. Worth asking how course access and planning work here.
42%
84 of 199 graduates · 2024-25 cohort
In context: CA median 55.9% · -13.7 pp vs. median · Sutter Co. 40.7%.
Selective UC Reach (UCSD, UCSB, UCI, UCD)
2.7
per 100 seniors · campus-level total
In context: CA median 15.5 · Top 10% statewide ≥ 39.4 · higher than 2% of CA HS.
Elite UC Reach (UCB + UCLA)
N/A
Senior Class Size
183
CDE grade 12 (exact)
Total School Enrollment
768
All grades · CDE Census Day
Economic Connectedness
1.10
57th percentile in CA · cross‑class friendships
Avg. Applicant GPA · top-6 UCs
3.97
Avg. Admitted GPA · top-6 UCs
4.16

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.

🎯 Who's actually getting into UC from Sutter High School
Campus 4.00+ GPA 3.70–3.99 GPA 3.30–3.69 GPA < 3.30 GPA
UC Santa Barbara Strong shot Moderate Long odds Filtered out
UC Davis Strong shot Real shot Moderate Filtered out
Strong shot = ≥30% statewide admit rate at this band · Real shot = 10–29% · Moderate = 5–9% · Long odds = 1–4% · Filtered out = under 1%. Tiers map this school's likely outcomes by GPA tier using statewide CA admit rates from UCOP 2024.

The numbers behind it

Campus Applicant GPA Admit GPA Lift Admit rate vs peer schools @ same GPA
UC Santa Barbara 4.00 4.16 +0.16 45.5% Peers +0.26 · wider
UC Davis (2019) 4.00 4.17 +0.17 53.3% Peers +0.24 · 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%
How we infer the tier labels: Each tier comes from the statewide CA admit rate at that GPA band at that UC. The "vs peers" column compares this school's lift (admit GPA − applicant GPA) to the average lift at ~100–300 other CA schools with similar applicant pool GPA. What this isn't: a guarantee. UC comprehensive review weighs essays, course rigor, demographics, and context-of-opportunity beyond GPA. A 3.9 with strong context can land an admit; a 4.0 with weak essays can be denied. Use as a baseline expectation, not a verdict. Per-campus year is shown when it differs from the headline year (UCOP doesn't always publish admit-GPA for every campus every year).

UC Outcomes Trend — 2019–2024

UC Admit Rate %
UC Reach Score (where available)
UC Admits (count, right axis)

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 — 2024

Campus Applicants Admits Enrollees Admit Rate UC Reach Score Yield Avg GPA (App) Avg GPA (Adm)
UCLA → Elite 5 3.96
UC San Diego → Selective 9 4.01
UC Santa Barbara → Selective 11 5 45.5% 3 4.00 4.16
UC Irvine → Selective 9 4.00
UC Davis → 9 3 33.3% 2 3.84
= UCOP-suppressed (count below 3 students, hidden for privacy — actual value is 0, 1, or 2, not necessarily zero). Campus-level totals may count one student admitted to multiple UC campuses more than once; Admit Volume metrics are not the same as UC Reach, which requires unique-student counts. See methodology →

What This Means

Fewer than 15% of seniors are earning UC admission. This may reflect a high non-UC college-going rate, significant A-G completion gaps, or an early-stage UC pipeline. A deeper review of A-G readiness and counseling capacity is warranted.
Note: the UC Reach Score sums campus-level admits across the top-six UC campuses, so a student admitted to both UCLA and UCSD is counted at each. It reflects competitive admit volume relative to class size — admit-events, not distinct students — which is why a Score can exceed 100.
Compare with other schools → See Sutter County rankings →

For School Admins

The full Reach Report for Sutter 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 (4) ranked head-to-head against your closest competitor schools
  • Your 5-year enrollment forecast (currently -0.2%/yr) with the revenue at stake
  • Student-retention benchmarking vs your county median — and the LCAP evidence to back your goals
See a sample report →

For Parents

Researching colleges for your kid at Sutter High School?

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