Private school tuition
Is St Francis High School Salesian College Prep worth the tuition?
St Francis High School Salesian College Prep (Watsonville) set beside Aptos High School (Aptos), 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 St Francis High School Salesian College Prep cost?
St Francis High School Salesian College Prep publishes tuition of $17,890 for 2026-27, which is $71,560 over four years at today's tuition.
| Published tuition | $17,890 (2026-27) |
| Four years at today's tuition (tuition × 4) | $71,560 |
- As the school lists it: $17,890 for 2026-27 (2027-28 rate not yet 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?
St Francis High School Salesian College Prep has a 35 UC Reach Score, from 18 UC admits counted at each campus for 52 seniors, and Aptos High School has a 28 score, from 83 admits for 292 seniors, 34.6 and 28.4 admits per 100 seniors.
| St Francis High School Salesian College Prep (private) | Aptos High School (public) | |
|---|---|---|
| UC Reach Score 2025 | 35 | 28 |
| UC admits 2025, counted at each campus | 18 | 83 |
| Seniors | 52 | 292 |
| UC admits per 100 seniors | 34.6 | 28.4 |
| Publishes a counted college list | No | No |
Neither school publishes a counted college list that we hold.
What does the public school offer?
Aptos High School in Aptos is 7.2 miles from St Francis High School Salesian College Prep, has a 28 UC Reach Score and enrolled 1,258 students in 2026.
- UC Reach Score 2025: 28, from 83 UC admits for 292 seniors.
- Enrollment: 1,258 students (2026).
- A-G completion: 62.3% of the 2024-25 graduating cohort of 290 met the UC/CSU course requirements (California median 55.9%).
- Students per counselor: 359 to 1 (Civil Rights Data Collection 2020; California median 337 to 1).
- Full profile: Aptos High School.
What are families also paying for at St Francis High School Salesian College Prep?
Some of what a family pays for at St Francis High School Salesian College Prep 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. St Francis High School Salesian College Prep is a Catholic 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 St Francis High School Salesian College Prep at 13.5 students per teacher across 221 students.
- Size and grades served. St Francis High School Salesian College Prep enrolled 214 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 Aptos High School offers.
More on St Francis High School Salesian College Prep: 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, 7.2 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.