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Terra Nova High School

1450 Terra Nova Boulevard, Pacifica, CA 94044View on map

  • Public
  • Pacifica
  • 178 seniors
  • 713 students

Terra Nova High School is a public high school in Pacifica (Jefferson Union High) with 178 seniors. In fall 2025, 75% of its 48 University of California applicants were admitted, compared with a county median of 76%. Its students applied most often to UC Davis (UCD), UC Santa Cruz (UCSC), and UC San Diego (UCSD). 58% of the class of 2023 completed the A–G courses UC requires.

Year

UC admit rate

75%

36 of 48 applicants, fall 2025

County median 76%

Seniors admitted to a UC

20%

36 of 178 seniors

County median 34%

Seniors who applied to UC

27%

48 of 178 seniors

County median 42%

UC Los Angeles (UCLA) admit rate

—

— of 22 applicants, fall 2025

UC Berkeley (Cal) admit rate

—

— of 21 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

Terra Nova High School applicants did better than all California applicants at 0 of 6 campuses, about the same at 1 and worse at 5.

  • San Diego8 pts lower

    17%

    5 of 30 admitted

    This school17%All CA25%

    Admitted students' average GPA 4.29 (all applicants 3.86)

  • Santa Barbara15 pts lower

    17%

    5 of 29 admitted

    This school17%All CA32%

    Admitted students' average GPA 4.31 (all applicants 3.90)

  • Davis13 pts lower

    24%

    8 of 33 admitted

    This school24%All CA37%

    Admitted students' average GPA 4.25 (all applicants 3.95)

  • Santa Cruz9 pts lower

    63%

    20 of 32 admitted

    This school63%All CA71%

    Admitted students' average GPA 4.07 (all applicants 3.82)

  • Riverside7 pts lower

    80%

    12 of 15 admitted

    This school80%All CA87%

    Admitted students' average GPA 3.99 (all applicants 3.83)

  • MercedAbout the same

    94%

    15 of 16 admitted

    This school94%All CA96%

    Admitted students' average GPA 3.89 (all applicants 3.83)

  • Irvine

    too few applicants to report27 applied

  • Los Angeles

    too few applicants to report22 applied

  • Berkeley

    too few applicants to report21 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

Terra Nova High School applicants did better than the campus overall at 0 of 5 campuses, about the same at 2 and worse at 3.

  • San Luis Obispo17 pts lower

    13%

    5 of 38 admitted

    This school13%Overall30%

  • San Diego8 pts lower

    27%

    13 of 49 admitted

    This school27%Overall34%

  • San Jose4 pts lower

    76%

    19 of 25 admitted

    This school76%Overall80%

  • ChicoAbout the same

    97%

    30 of 31 admitted

    This school97%Overall94%

  • San FranciscoAbout the same

    94%

    16 of 17 admitted

    This school94%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 (174 graduates), the latest published by fall 2025, within 12 months of graduating.

Any college

84%

146 of 174 graduates

UC or CSU

22%

39 graduates

Community college

49%

85 graduates

DestinationGraduatesShare
UC137%
CSU2615%
CA private college85%
Out of state148%
Community college8549%
Not enrolled2816%
Enrolled in college14684%
Total174100%

How each student group compares

Compare college-going across student groups

  • Gender: Female, Male
  • Race & ethnicity: White, Hispanic or Latino, Two or more races, Filipino
  • Student need: Low-income, Students with disabilities
See the full report

Where graduates went, as reported by the school

Schools publish these themselves and count different things; each list says what it counts.

Class of 2026: graduates admitted to 1 Ivy League and 14 other top universities, 133 colleges in all.

Including Cornell University, California Institute of Technology and Stanford University.

From the school's matriculation list; last checked Oct 2026.

The full list with counts, and earlier classes, is in the full report.

See the full report

Advanced Placement

9

AP courses offered

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

15

AP class sections

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

33% of students are in AP courses

2024–25 school year · California School Accountability Report Card

49%

of graduating seniors passed at least two AP exams or courses

74 of 151 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)

25%

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

42 of 167 graduates

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

Subject areas

  • English: 3 classes
  • Fine and performing arts: 2 classes
  • Mathematics: 1 class
  • Science: 3 classes
  • Social science: 6 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 63%County median 62%
  • Juniors meeting the math standard 44%County median 37%
  • Juniors exceeding the English standard 29%County median 29%
  • Juniors exceeding the math standard 21%County median 19%
  • Low-income students 14%County median 35%
  • Graduates completing courses 58%County median 66%

Across California

Year
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Other schools in Jefferson Union High and nearby