Private school tuition
Is Branson School worth the tuition?
Branson School (Ross) set beside Galileo Academy of Science & Tech (San Francisco), the highest-scoring public high school within 15 miles that has at least 100 seniors. The two are compared on cost, on 2025 UC outcomes and on what each offers.
What does Branson School cost?
Branson School publishes tuition of $68,475 for 2026-27, which is $273,900 over four years at today's tuition.
| Published tuition | $68,475 (2026-27) |
| Four years at today's tuition (tuition × 4) | $273,900 |
- As the school lists it: $68,475 tuition / $71,290 total cost of enrollment (2026-27); 2027-28 'will be announced in January 2027'.
- Form 990 tuition revenue per student: about $52,620 (program revenue of $20,784,971 for fiscal 2023, tuition and other earned revenue, divided by 395 students; the IRS filing, not the school's published price).
- The four-year figure holds tuition constant. It leaves out fees, books, transportation and any financial aid, which Reach does not hold; the school's admissions office can say what applies.
How do their UC outcomes compare?
Branson School has a 51 UC Reach Score, from 44 UC admits counted at each campus for 86 seniors, and Galileo Academy of Science & Tech has a 61 score, from 249 admits for 408 seniors, 51.2 and 61.0 admits per 100 seniors.
| Branson School (private) | Galileo Academy of Science & Tech (public) | |
|---|---|---|
| UC Reach Score 2025 | 51 | 61 |
| UC admits 2025, counted at each campus | 44 | 249 |
| Seniors | 86 | 408 |
| UC admits per 100 seniors | 51.2 | 61.0 |
| Publishes a counted college list | Yes | No |
Branson School: five most-named colleges
- University of Michigan (11)
- Stanford University (10)
- Wake Forest University (10)
- University of Chicago (9)
- Vanderbilt University (9)
From the school's own published list, matriculation (where graduates enrolled), Branson Classes of 2024-2026; Where Branson Students Attend College. Counts are the school's own.
Galileo Academy of Science & Tech does not publish a counted college list that we hold, so only one list is shown.
What does the public school offer?
Galileo Academy of Science & Tech in San Francisco is 13.6 miles from Branson School, has a 61 UC Reach Score and enrolled 1,806 students in 2026.
- UC Reach Score 2025: 61, from 249 UC admits for 408 seniors.
- Enrollment: 1,806 students (2026).
- A-G completion: 66.8% of the 2024-25 graduating cohort of 424 met the UC/CSU course requirements (California median 55.9%).
- Students per counselor: 258 to 1 (Civil Rights Data Collection 2020; California median 337 to 1).
- Full profile: Galileo Academy of Science & Tech.
What are families also paying for at Branson School?
Some of what a family pays for at Branson School is something only a private school can offer. None of it shows up in a UC Reach Score, and each item is a question of fit rather than a ranking.
- A community chosen by fit. A private school runs its own admissions process, so the application, the entrance exam and the interview work as a fit signal in both directions: the school learns about the student, and the family learns how the school talks about its students.
- Its own values and program. A private school sets its own curriculum, calendar and expectations rather than inheriting a district's, so a family can look for a philosophy it shares.
- Class size. The National Center for Education Statistics' Private School Survey (2022) lists Branson School at 6.7 students per teacher across 320 students.
- Size and grades served. Branson School enrolled 395 students in 2025 and serves grades 9–12.
- Advising, arts and athletics. A private school builds its own college advising and its own arts and athletics offerings, and a smaller school can mean more students on each team and in each production. Ask what the counselor caseload and the participation look like.
Parents are not only shopping for college outcomes. The UC Reach Score counts one thing, UC admits per 100 seniors, and it says nothing about whether a teenager will be known, challenged and happy at a school for four years.
Public schools are a great choice when a family cannot afford a private school, and the section above shows what Galileo Academy of Science & Tech offers.
More on Branson School: its full profile, more private high schools in Marin County, and private vs public high schools in Marin County. Other schools are on the is it worth the tuition? index.
UC Reach Score is top-6 UC admits per 100 seniors in 2025, counted at each campus, so a student admitted to several campuses counts at each; a "~" marks an estimated senior count. Tuition is the figure the school publishes on its admissions pages, for the year shown. The public school is the highest-scoring district or charter high school within 15 miles (straight-line distance, 13.6 miles here) that reaches grade 12, has at least 100 seniors and is not an online, independent-study or alternative program. Form 990 figures come from the school's IRS filing, as reported through ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer; its program revenue includes tuition and other earned revenue. A-G completion is the California Department of Education's adjusted cohort graduation file; the counselor ratio is the federal Civil Rights Data Collection.