Head to head
Cate School vs Santa Barbara High School
Private · Carpinteria
Cate School
300 students
VS
Public · Santa Barbara
Santa Barbara High School
1,924 students
Cate School, a private high school in Carpinteria, CA, and Santa Barbara High School, a public high school in Santa Barbara, CA, compared side by side on enrollment, published academic figures, AP participation, and the breadth of their sports and clubs.
| Metric | Cate School | Santa Barbara High School |
|---|---|---|
| Overview | ||
| Type | Private | Public |
| District / affiliation | — | Santa Barbara Unified School District |
| Grades served | 9-12 | 9-12 |
| Enrollment | 300 | 1,924● |
| Founded | 1910 | 1875● |
| Student–teacher ratio | — | 21.24:1 |
| Mascot | Rams | Dons |
| Tuition | $87,340 boarding / $70,990 day (2026-27, cate.org/admission/financial-assistance); prior year $79,980 boarding / $63,780 day (2024-25, cate.org). The source data's $74,975/$58,975 AND the alternative $77,300/$62,600 are BOTH stale/incorrect — neither matches cate.org for 2024-25 or 2026-27. | 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 programs | 0 | 3● |
| Sports offered | 13 | 23● |
| Clubs & activities | 23 | 26● |
| Notable facilities | 11● | 7 |
| Has PTA | Yes | Yes |
| Athletic boosters | No | Yes |
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.