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Highland High School

2900 Royal Scots Way, Bakersfield, CA 93306View on map

  • Public
  • Bakersfield
  • 656 seniors
  • 2,505 students

Highland High School is a public high school in Bakersfield (Kern High) with 656 seniors. In fall 2025, 68% of its 68 University of California applicants were admitted, compared with a county median of 79%. Its students applied most often to UC Los Angeles (UCLA), UC Santa Barbara (UCSB), and UC Irvine (UCI). 44% of the class of 2023 completed the A–G courses UC requires.

Year

UC admit rate

68%

46 of 68 applicants, fall 2025

County median 79%

Seniors admitted to a UC

7%

46 of 656 seniors

County median 9%

Seniors who applied to UC

10%

68 of 656 seniors

County median 12%

UC Los Angeles (UCLA) admit rate

10%

4 of 39 applicants, fall 2025

CA applicants 9.6%

UC Berkeley (Cal) admit rate

—

— of 27 applicants, fall 2025

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

Highland High School applicants did better than all California applicants at 2 of 8 campuses, about the same at 4 and worse at 2.

  • Los AngelesAbout the same

    10%

    4 of 39 admitted

    This school10%All CA10%

    Admitted students' average GPA — (all applicants 3.79)

  • Irvine5 pts higher

    28%

    10 of 36 admitted

    This school28%All CA22%

    Admitted students' average GPA 4.16 (all applicants 3.80)

  • San DiegoAbout the same

    27%

    8 of 30 admitted

    This school27%All CA25%

    Admitted students' average GPA 4.14 (all applicants 3.73)

  • Santa Barbara14 pts higher

    46%

    18 of 39 admitted

    This school46%All CA32%

    Admitted students' average GPA 4.05 (all applicants 3.71)

  • DavisAbout the same

    38%

    12 of 32 admitted

    This school38%All CA37%

    Admitted students' average GPA 4.08 (all applicants 3.72)

  • Santa Cruz21 pts lower

    50%

    8 of 16 admitted

    This school50%All CA71%

    Admitted students' average GPA 3.84 (all applicants 3.53)

  • RiversideAbout the same

    86%

    18 of 21 admitted

    This school86%All CA87%

    Admitted students' average GPA 3.78 (all applicants 3.66)

  • Merced9 pts lower

    88%

    14 of 16 admitted

    This school88%All CA96%

    Admitted students' average GPA 3.75 (all applicants 3.69)

  • Berkeley

    too few applicants to report27 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

Highland High School applicants did better than the campus overall at 1 of 5 campuses, about the same at 2 and worse at 2.

  • San Luis Obispo4 pts lower

    26%

    15 of 58 admitted

    This school26%Overall30%

  • Pomona24 pts lower

    50%

    17 of 34 admitted

    This school50%Overall74%

  • Bakersfield6 pts higher

    94%

    131 of 139 admitted

    This school94%Overall88%

  • NorthridgeAbout the same

    90%

    27 of 30 admitted

    This school90%Overall93%

  • FresnoAbout the same

    97%

    62 of 64 admitted

    This school97%Overall96%

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

Any college

55%

296 of 543 graduates

UC or CSU

16%

86 graduates

Community college

35%

191 graduates

DestinationGraduatesShare
UC234%
CSU6312%
CA private college92%
Out of state102%
Community college19135%
Not enrolled24745%
Enrolled in college29655%
Total543100%

How each student group compares

Compare college-going across student groups

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

Advanced Placement

17

AP courses offered

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

45

AP class sections

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

32% of students are in AP courses

2024–25 school year · California School Accountability Report Card

32%

of graduating seniors passed at least two AP exams or courses

193 of 609 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)

9%

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

58 of 631 graduates

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

Subject areas

  • Computer science: 1 class
  • English: 10 classes
  • Fine and performing arts: 1 class
  • Foreign language: 2 classes
  • Mathematics: 10 classes
  • Science: 10 classes
  • Social science: 11 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 54%County median 53%
  • Juniors meeting the math standard 16%County median 18%
  • Juniors exceeding the English standard 21%County median 21%
  • Juniors exceeding the math standard 4%County median 6%
  • Low-income students 95%County median 85%
  • Graduates completing courses 44%County median 33%

Across California

Year
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