Private school tuition
Is Whittier Christian High School worth the tuition?
Whittier Christian High School (La Habra) set beside Gretchen Whitney High School (Cerritos), 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 Whittier Christian High School cost?
Whittier Christian High School publishes tuition of $19,585 for 2026-27, which is $78,340 over four years at today's tuition.
| Published tuition | $19,585 (2026-27) |
| Four years at today's tuition (tuition × 4) | $78,340 |
- As the school lists it: $19,585 (2026-27, US students); $33,025 international; enrollment fee $550 (Gr 9/10) / $650 (Gr 11/12).
- Form 990 tuition revenue per student: about $20,378 (program revenue of $8,355,021 for fiscal 2023, tuition and other earned revenue, divided by 410 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?
Whittier Christian High School has a 6 UC Reach Score, from 6 UC admits counted at each campus for 94 seniors, and Gretchen Whitney High School has a 126 score, from 222 admits for 176 seniors, 6.4 and 126.1 admits per 100 seniors.
| Whittier Christian High School (private) | Gretchen Whitney High School (public) | |
|---|---|---|
| UC Reach Score 2025 | 6 | 126 |
| UC admits 2025, counted at each campus | 6 | 222 |
| Seniors | 94 | 176 |
| UC admits per 100 seniors | 6.4 | 126.1 |
| Publishes a counted college list | Yes | No |
Whittier Christian High School: five most-named colleges
- University of California-Riverside (21)
- University of California-Santa Cruz (15)
- Biola University (14)
- University of California-Davis (13)
- California State University-Fullerton (12)
From the school's own published list, acceptances, Class of 2020; 2020 College Acceptance Flyer ("Class of 2020 List of College Acceptances"). Counts are the school's own.
Gretchen Whitney High School does not publish a counted college list that we hold, so only one list is shown.
What does the public school offer?
Gretchen Whitney High School in Cerritos is 6.3 miles from Whittier Christian High School, has a 126 UC Reach Score and enrolled 1,009 students in 2026.
- UC Reach Score 2025: 126, from 222 UC admits for 176 seniors.
- Enrollment: 1,009 students (2026).
- A-G completion: 96.0% of the 2024-25 graduating cohort of 177 met the UC/CSU course requirements (California median 55.9%).
- Students per counselor: 336 to 1 (Civil Rights Data Collection 2020; California median 337 to 1).
- Full profile: Gretchen Whitney High School.
What are families also paying for at Whittier Christian High School?
Some of what a family pays for at Whittier Christian 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.
- A faith community. Whittier Christian High 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 Whittier Christian High School at 13.5 students per teacher across 359 students.
- Size and grades served. Whittier Christian High School enrolled 410 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 Gretchen Whitney High School offers.
More on Whittier Christian High School: its full profile, more private high schools in Orange County, and private vs public high schools in Orange 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, 6.3 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.