Is Saint Mary's High School worth the tuition?

What does Saint Mary's High School cost?

Saint Mary's High School publishes tuition of $14,300 for 2026-27, which is $57,200 over four years at today's tuition.

• As the school lists it: $14,300 for 2026-27; registration $365, student body fee $230; 2027-28 tuition not posted.
• 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?

Saint Mary's High School has a 37 UC Reach Score, from 69 UC admits counted at each campus for 187 seniors, and Aspire Benjamin Holt College Prep has a 40 score, from 66 admits for 163 seniors, 36.9 and 40.5 admits per 100 seniors.

Neither school publishes a counted college list that we hold.

What does the public school offer?

Aspire Benjamin Holt College Prep in Stockton is 2.8 miles from Saint Mary's High School, has a 40 UC Reach Score and enrolled 698 students in 2026.

• UC Reach Score 2025: 40, from 66 UC admits for 163 seniors.
• Enrollment: 698 students (2026).
• A-G completion: 96.9% of the 2024-25 graduating cohort of 166 met the UC/CSU course requirements (California median 55.9%).
• Full profile: Aspire Benjamin Holt College Prep.

What are families also paying for at Saint Mary's High School?

Some of what a family pays for at Saint Mary's High 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. Class size is a fair question for the admissions office; we do not hold a student–teacher ratio for Saint Mary's High School.
• Size and grades served. Saint Mary's High School enrolled 845 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 Aspire Benjamin Holt College Prep offers.

More on Saint Mary's High School: its full profile. 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, 2.8 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.