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Costa Mesa High School

2650 Fairview Road, Costa Mesa, CA 92626View on map

  • Public
  • Costa Mesa
  • 304 seniors
  • 1,610 students

Costa Mesa High School is a public high school in Costa Mesa (Newport-Mesa Unified) with 304 seniors. In fall 2025, 70% of its 63 University of California applicants were admitted, compared with a county median of 76%. Its students applied most often to UC Irvine (UCI), UC San Diego (UCSD), and UC Los Angeles (UCLA). 47% of the class of 2023 completed the A–G courses UC requires.

Year

UC admit rate

70%

44 of 63 applicants, fall 2025

County median 76%

Seniors admitted to a UC

14%

44 of 304 seniors

County median 23%

Seniors who applied to UC

21%

63 of 304 seniors

County median 30%

UC Los Angeles (UCLA) admit rate

—

— of 38 applicants, fall 2025

UC Berkeley (Cal) admit rate

18%

4 of 22 applicants, fall 2025

CA applicants 13%

Campus by campus, fall 2025

The share of this school's applicants each campus admitted, beside the campus's rate for everyone else. Hardest campus first.

University of California

Costa Mesa High School applicants did better than all California applicants at 6 of 8 campuses, about the same at 1 and worse at 1.

  • Berkeley5 pts higher

    18%

    4 of 22 admitted

    This school18%All CA13%

    Admitted students' average GPA — (all applicants 3.85)

  • IrvineAbout the same

    25%

    13 of 52 admitted

    This school25%All CA22%

    Admitted students' average GPA 4.12 (all applicants 3.79)

  • San Diego6 pts higher

    31%

    13 of 42 admitted

    This school31%All CA25%

    Admitted students' average GPA 4.21 (all applicants 3.84)

  • Santa Barbara4 pts lower

    29%

    8 of 28 admitted

    This school29%All CA32%

    Admitted students' average GPA 4.16 (all applicants 3.83)

  • Davis9 pts higher

    46%

    6 of 13 admitted

    This school46%All CA37%

    Admitted students' average GPA 4.16 (all applicants 3.89)

  • Santa Cruz12 pts higher

    83%

    15 of 18 admitted

    This school83%All CA71%

    Admitted students' average GPA 3.85 (all applicants 3.81)

  • Riverside9 pts higher

    96%

    23 of 24 admitted

    This school96%All CA87%

    Admitted students' average GPA 3.83 (all applicants 3.79)

  • Merced4 pts higher

    100%

    11 of 11 admitted

    This school100%All CA96%

    Admitted students' average GPA 3.76 (all applicants 3.76)

  • Los Angeles

    too few applicants to report38 applied

Fall 2025. A student admitted to several campuses counts once at each one. All CA is the campus’s admit rate that fall for applicants from every California high school. Within 3 points counts as about the same. GPA is the UC-calculated GPA (weighted, capped).

California State University

Costa Mesa High School applicants did better than the campus overall at 2 of 3 campuses, about the same at 1.

  • Long Beach4 pts higher

    51%

    34 of 67 admitted

    This school51%Overall47%

  • Fullerton6 pts higher

    93%

    50 of 54 admitted

    This school93%Overall87%

  • Los AngelesAbout the same

    92%

    11 of 12 admitted

    This school92%Overall92%

Fall 2025. A student admitted to several campuses counts once at each one. Overall is the campus’s admit rate for all its applicants, from federal IPEDS data (fall 2023, the latest published). Within 3 points counts as about the same.

Where graduates go

Class of 2023 (263 graduates), the latest published by fall 2025, within 12 months of graduating.

Any college

83%

217 of 263 graduates

UC or CSU

16%

42 graduates

Community college

58%

153 graduates

DestinationGraduatesShare
UC249%
CSU187%
CA private college156%
Out of state73%
Community college15358%
Not enrolled4617%
Enrolled in college21783%
Total263100%

How each student group compares

Compare college-going across student groups

  • Gender: Male, Female
  • Race & ethnicity: Hispanic or Latino, White, Asian
  • Student need: Low-income, English learners, Students with disabilities
See the full report

Advanced Placement

20

AP courses offered

2023–24 school year · US Dept. of Education Civil Rights Data Collection

38

AP class sections

Counts every section taught, so it is larger than the number of different AP courses.

45% of students are in AP courses

2024–25 school year · California School Accountability Report Card

44%

of graduating seniors passed at least two AP exams or courses

117 of 264 graduates

A score of 3 or higher on exams or a C- or better in courses. Not comparable with the exam-only share.

2025–26 school year · California Department of Education (College/Career Indicator)

17%

of graduating seniors scored 3 or higher on at least two AP exams

47 of 278 graduates

2023–24 school year · California Department of Education (College/Career Indicator)

Subject areas

  • English: 12 classes
  • Fine and performing arts: 2 classes
  • Foreign language: 3 classes
  • Mathematics: 3 classes
  • Science: 6 classes
  • Social science: 12 classes

Academic context

State test (CAASPP), juniors tested in 2026, and the share of low-income students. A–G is the class of 2023. The tick is the county median.

  • Juniors meeting the English standard 52%County median 65%
  • Juniors meeting the math standard 26%County median 41%
  • Juniors exceeding the English standard 16%County median 33%
  • Juniors exceeding the math standard 10%County median 21%
  • Low-income students 73%County median 58%
  • Graduates completing courses 47%County median 57%

Across California

Year
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