Private school tuition
Is Cambridge School worth the tuition?
Cambridge School (San Diego) set beside Canyon Crest Academy (San Diego), 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 Cambridge School cost?
Cambridge School publishes tuition of $31,980, which is $127,920 over four years at today's tuition.
| Published tuition | $31,980 |
| Four years at today's tuition (tuition × 4) | $127,920 |
- As the school lists it: $31,980/yr K-12 (JK $23,990 full day / $20,790 half day); school year not labeled on the tuition page.
- Form 990 tuition revenue per student: about $25,616 (program revenue of $9,990,235 for fiscal 2023, tuition and other earned revenue, divided by 390 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?
Cambridge School has a 52 UC Reach Score, from 14 UC admits counted at each campus for 27 seniors, and Canyon Crest Academy has a 93 score, from 506 admits for 546 seniors, 51.9 and 92.7 admits per 100 seniors.
| Cambridge School (private) | Canyon Crest Academy (public) | |
|---|---|---|
| UC Reach Score 2025 | 52 | 93 |
| UC admits 2025, counted at each campus | 14 | 506 |
| Seniors | 27 | 546 |
| UC admits per 100 seniors | 51.9 | 92.7 |
| Publishes a counted college list | Yes | No |
Cambridge School: five most-named colleges
- UC Los Angeles (9)
- Baylor University, Honors College (7)
- Hillsdale College (7)
- Gordon College, Honors Program (5)
- UC Berkeley (5)
From the school's own published list, matriculation (where graduates enrolled), 2018-2025; The Cambridge School 2025-2026 Profile. Counts are the school's own.
Canyon Crest Academy does not publish a counted college list that we hold, so only one list is shown.
What does the public school offer?
Canyon Crest Academy in San Diego is 3.5 miles from Cambridge School, has a 93 UC Reach Score and enrolled 1,977 students in 2026.
- UC Reach Score 2025: 93, from 506 UC admits for 546 seniors.
- Enrollment: 1,977 students (2026).
- A-G completion: 87.8% of the 2024-25 graduating cohort of 548 met the UC/CSU course requirements (California median 55.9%).
- Students per counselor: 330 to 1 (Civil Rights Data Collection 2020; California median 337 to 1).
- Full profile: Canyon Crest Academy.
What are families also paying for at Cambridge School?
Some of what a family pays for at Cambridge 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.
- A faith community. Cambridge School is a religiously affiliated school, which matters to families who want faith to be part of the school day.
- Class size. The National Center for Education Statistics' Private School Survey (2022) lists Cambridge School at 7.2 students per teacher across 366 students.
- Size and grades served. Cambridge School enrolled 390 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 Canyon Crest Academy offers.
More on Cambridge School: its full profile, more private high schools in San Diego County, and private vs public high schools in San Diego 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, 3.5 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.