Head to head

Anacapa School vs Santa Barbara High School

Anacapa School is a private high school and Santa Barbara High School is a public high school, both in Santa Barbara, CA. The table below sets them side by side on enrollment, published academic figures, AP participation, and the breadth of their sports and clubs.

MetricAnacapa School logoAnacapa SchoolSanta Barbara High School logoSanta Barbara High School
Overview
TypePrivatePublic
District / affiliation—Santa Barbara Unified School District
Grades served7-12 (high-school grades 9-12)9-12
Enrollment521,924●
Founded19811875●
Student–teacher ratio~6:121.24:1
MascotIsland FoxDons
Tuition$29,000 (upper grades) / $28,000 (lower) (2025-26, PrivateSchoolReview)Free (public)
Academics
Graduation rate—94.3% four-year adjusted cohort graduation rate (528 of 560 cohort) (2023-24, CDE DataQuest ACGR, CDS 42767864235727; refreshes the prior 93% 2023 U.S. News figure)
CAASPP ELA proficiency—44.88% met/exceeded standard (All Students; Level 4 13.17% + Level 3 31.71%) (2024-25, CAASPP/Smarter Balanced, caaspp-elpac.ets.org; up from 33% in 2023)
CAASPP Math proficiency—18.71% met/exceeded standard (All Students; Level 4 5.76% + Level 3 12.95%) (2024-25, CAASPP/Smarter Balanced, caaspp-elpac.ets.org; down from 22% in 2023)
College-going rate—79.6% 12-month college-going rate (406 of 510 high school completers enrolled in college within 12 months) (2022-23, CDE DataQuest College-Going Rate, dq.cde.ca.gov, CDS 42767864235727; latest published CGR year — 2023-24 not yet released). Supersedes the prior Dashboard 'Prepared' 60.4% as the actual postsecondary-enrollment figure.
U.S. News national rank—#6,843 nationally; 819th in California (2024, U.S. News)
AP participation rate—42% (2024, U.S. News)
AP courses (listed)—22
Programs & life
Academies / signature programs03●
Sports offered623●
Clubs & activities626●
Notable facilities37●
Has PTANoYes
Athletic boostersNoYes

A marker (●), in the leading school's colors, flags the stronger reported figure on objective, comparable measures only. A dash (—) means the figure isn't published for that school — private schools generally don't sit the state CAASPP tests, so their academic cells are often blank.