Cate School

About

Cate School, founded in 1910, is a highly selective coeducational boarding (and some day) school on a mesa in Carpinteria, about eleven miles southeast of Santa Barbara. Roughly 78% of its ~307 students board. With a ~17% acceptance rate, it is one of the most prestigious independent secondary schools on California's Central Coast and offers significant financial aid.

Academics & public data

Data as of recent.

AP & advanced coursework

Cate offers 46 AP/advanced-level courses (2026, BoardingSchoolReview), but does not publish a clean per-course AP catalog online (departments offer the school's own advanced/honors sequences). Confirm exact AP list via the cate.org all-courses/departments pages. Coeducational boarding/day, grades 9-12, in Carpinteria (~11 mi from Santa Barbara).

Admissions & key dates

How to apply

Apply online via the Cate admission portal; submit the application by Jan 15 and the financial-assistance application by Feb 1. Admission decisions are released March 10 and the enrollment (contract) deadline is April 10. (2026-27/2027-28 cycle, cate.org/admission/apply)

Tuition & aid

Financial assistance application deadline February 1. Tuition ~$87,340 boarding / ~$70,990 day (2026-27, cate.org); ~$74,975 boarding / ~$58,975 day in older sources. Need-based aid ranges from a few thousand dollars up to full tuition; financial-aid budget exceeds $4 million and roughly 30% of students receive aid. (cate.org/admission/financial-assistance)

Open house / tours

Campus visits are by scheduled appointment (Cate is a gated campus), offered Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays through the admission season as a ~3-hour program starting 9:10 am; summer tours also offered (e.g., June dates at 10:00 am). Schedule via admission@cate.org or 805-684-4127 ext. 217. (2026, cate.org/admission/apply)

Application deadline

January 15 (admission application). Cate accepts applications for 9th, 10th and 11th grades ONLY — no 12th-grade, post-graduate, or mid-year admission. (2027-28 cycle as advertised on cate.org/admission/apply; the same Jan 15 date held for the just-closed 2026-27 cycle, so treat it as Cate's stable annual deadline.)

Athletics

Compare across schools: Water Polo · Volleyball · Football · Basketball · Soccer · Baseball · Tennis · Track & Field · Cross Country · Lacrosse · Swimming

Championship history

Every team title we can source for Cate School — CIF State, CIF Southern Section, and league championships — newest first.

10

CIF-SS titles

30

League titles

1. 2026

   • LeagueBoys Soccer — Tri-Valley League · Tri-Valley League boys soccer champion.(source)

2. 2025

   • CIF-SSBoys Tennis — 3 · CIF-SS Division 3 boys tennis team champion; defeated San Marcos 11-7 in an all-local final. 15-1 season; also Tri-Valley League champions. Head coach Lance Kronberg.(source)
   • CIF-SSGirls Volleyball — 7 · CIF-SS Division 7 girls volleyball champion; defeated West Valley/Hemet in five sets (25-16, 23-25, 25-17, 21-25, 17-15) in Carpinteria. Oyin Opawumi had 26 kills, 26 digs.(source)
   • LeagueBoys Soccer — Tri-Valley League · Tri-Valley League boys soccer champion.(source)
   • LeagueBoys Tennis — Tri-Valley League · Tri-Valley League boys tennis champion (the school's official boys tennis page references winning a 'second consecutive' Tri-Valley title in 2026, implying 2025).(source)

3. 2024

   • LeagueBoys Football — Football league champion (league name not specified on the official page).(source)
   • LeagueBoys Soccer — Tri-Valley League · Tri-Valley League boys soccer champion.(source)
   • LeagueGirls Tennis — Tri-Valley League · Tri-Valley League girls tennis champion.(source)

4. 2023

   • CIF-SSGirls Tennis — 3 · CIF-SS Division 3 girls tennis team champion; completed a perfect 17-0 season.(source)
   • LeagueBoys Football — Football league champion (league name not specified on the official page).(source)
   • LeagueGirls Tennis — Tri-Valley League · Tri-Valley League girls tennis champion.(source)

5. 2022

   • LeagueBoys Soccer — Tri-Valley League · Tri-Valley League boys soccer champion (2022, 2024, 2025, 2026 listed on official page).(source)
   • LeagueGirls Tennis — Tri-Valley League · Tri-Valley League girls tennis champion.(source)

6. 2021

   • CIF-SSBoys Football — 8-Man Division 1 · CIF-SS 8-Man Division 1 football champion; defeated Grace Brethren 50-30 at Carpinteria HS. Head coach Ben Soto. Reported as Cate's first-ever CIF football title.(source)
   • LeagueGirls Tennis — Tri-Valley League · Tri-Valley League girls tennis champion (2021-2024 run listed on official page).(source)
   • LeagueGirls Volleyball — Tri-Valley League · Tri-Valley League girls volleyball champion.(source)

7. 2019

   • LeagueGirls Tennis — Tri-Valley League · Tri-Valley League girls tennis champion. (Also Frontier League volleyball / Tri-Valley volleyball years noted separately.)(source)
   • LeagueGirls Volleyball — Tri-Valley League · Tri-Valley League girls volleyball champion (2019 and 2021 listed on official page).(source)

8. 2018

   • LeagueBoys Football — Football league champion (league name not specified on the official page).(source)
   • LeagueGirls Tennis — Tri-Valley League · Tri-Valley League girls tennis champion.(source)
   • LeagueGirls Volleyball — Frontier League · Frontier League girls volleyball champion.(source)

9. 2017

   • LeagueGirls Tennis — Tri-Valley League · Tri-Valley League girls tennis champion.(source)

10. 2016

    • LeagueGirls Tennis — Tri-Valley League · Tri-Valley League girls tennis champion.(source)

11. 2015

    • LeagueBoys Football — Football league champion (league name not specified on the official page).(source)
    • LeagueGirls Tennis — Tri-Valley League · Tri-Valley League girls tennis champion (page lists Tri-Valley champions 2015-2019 and 2021-2024).(source)
    • LeagueGirls Volleyball — Frontier League · Frontier League girls volleyball champion.(source)

12. 2014

    • CIF-SSGirls Volleyball — 4A · CIF-SS Division 4A girls volleyball champion; 24-2 season, first title since 1991; team won its first state-tournament match in program history (advanced to SoCal Regional semifinal).(source)
    • LeagueGirls Volleyball — Frontier League · Frontier League girls volleyball champion (2014, 2015, 2018 listed on official page).(source)

13. 2013

    • LeagueBoys Football — Football league champion (league name not specified on the official page).(source)

14. 2012

    • CIF-SSBoys Soccer — VII · CIF-SS Division VII boys soccer champion; defeated University Prep 4-1 (Avery Schwartz scored 3). Team of Ema Boateng (Gatorade National Player of the Year), 20-2-1. Second straight D7 title.(source)
    • LeagueGirls Tennis — Condor League · Condor League girls tennis champion.(source)

15. 2011

    • CIF-SSBoys Soccer — VII · CIF-SS Division VII boys soccer champion (first of two consecutive). The 2012 title was reported as 'its second CIF Division 7 title in a row,' confirming the 2011 championship. Appears in the All-Time Boys Soccer Champions table under 2011 (Div. VII).(source)
    • LeagueBoys Football — Football league champion (league name not specified on the official page).(source)

16. 2010

    • LeagueGirls Tennis — Condor League · Condor League girls tennis champion.(source)

17. 2009

    • LeagueBoys Football — Football league champion (league name not specified on the official page).(source)
    • LeagueGirls Tennis — Condor League · Condor League girls tennis champion (2009-2010 and 2012 listed on the official page).(source)

18. 2007

    • LeagueBoys Football — Football league champion (league name not specified on the official page; Cate has competed in 8-man leagues including the Frontier League). League title years listed: 2007, 2009, 2011, 2013, 2015, 2018, 2023, 2024.(source)

19. 1994

    • CIF-SSGirls Track & Field — IV · CIF-SS Division IV girls track & field team champion. Head coach Jeff Barton; 46 points, runner-up St. Mary's, at Veterans Stadium.(source)

20. 1993

    • CIF-SSGirls Track & Field — IV · CIF-SS Division IV girls track & field team champion. Head coach Jeff Barton; 46 points, runner-up Paraclete, at Cerritos College.(source)

21. 1991

    • CIF-SSGirls Volleyball — CIF-SS girls volleyball champion. Division not specified by sources; the 2014 title was widely reported as the program's 'first since 1991,' independently corroborating a 1991 CIF-SS title. Listed among CIF champion years on Cate's official girls volleyball page.(source)

See every Santa Barbara school’s title history →

Notable alumni

• Lewis Nixon — WWII Army officer, Easy Company 'Band of Brothers'
• Conrad Hall — Academy Award-winning cinematographer
• David Crosby — musician, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young
• Stephen Malkmus — musician, frontman of Pavement
• Billy Steinberg — Grammy-winning songwriter, 'Like a Virgin'
• Chris Strachwitz — founder of Arhoolie Records, music preservationist
• Larry Niven — science fiction author, 'Ringworld'
• George Ledyard Stebbins — leading evolutionary biologist
• James S. Ackerman — architectural historian, Harvard professor
• Antony Garrett Lisi — theoretical physicist, 'An Exceptionally Simple Theory of Everything'
• Warren C. Breidenbach — surgeon, first long-term successful hand transplant
• Burton Smith — computer architect, Microsoft technical fellow
• Otis Chandler — former publisher of the Los Angeles Times
• Sir John Bond — former chairman and CEO of HSBC
• Malcolm Wallop — U.S. Senator from Wyoming
• Barnaby Conrad — author, artist, and bullfighter
• Dayton Hyde — author and conservationist
• Joshua Yaro — professional soccer player, Philadelphia Union
• Ema Boateng — professional soccer player, New England Revolution
• Geoffrey Acheampong — professional soccer player, LA Galaxy II
• Tracye Lawyer-Thomas — American heptathlete

See all notable SB alumni →

Clubs & activities

Facilities

• Library— Wykoff Library (within the Inquiry Collaborative).
• Gymnasiums— Two gyms on campus.
• Dining hall
• Dormitories— Ten dorms — Bothin, Class of 1925 House (25 House), Cook House East, Cook House West, High House, Lido, Longhouse, Parsonage, Savage, and Schoolhouse; most rooms have balconies with ocean or mountain views.
• Health center
• Tennis Center— Robert Bonning Tennis Center with eight courts.
• Aquatic Center— Emmett Horowitz Aquatic Center houses two pools.
• Athletic fields— Two recreational grass fields, a turf field, a baseball field, and an eight-lane track.
• Inquiry Collaborative— Newest building; multipurpose space with classrooms, study pods, a ceramics studio, and the Wykoff Library.
• Fitness/Training Center— Harcourt Fitness Center (recently renovated) and Brittingham Family Athletic Training Center.
• Performing arts facilities— Performing-art stages and studios on campus.

Leadership opportunities

• Prefects (service-minded student leaders selected at the end of 11th grade based on respect, integrity, and positive community impact)
• Student Body President and Vice President
• Teaching Assistants
• Peer Tutors
• Club officers / club founders (students may start their own club with an advisor and student government approval)
• Dorm leadership roles
• Men's Forum and Women's Forum leadership
• Affinity group leadership (BSU, Asian Student Union, HLA)

College & career support

Cate's college counseling is nationally recognized for an individualized, deliberate, comprehensive, data-driven approach that highlights each student's distinct strengths, led by the Head of Admission and College Counseling (Maude Bond). Across the classes of 2020-2024, graduates matriculated to over 150 colleges, with strong representation at the most selective institutions: University of Chicago (14), Brown (11), NYU (10), UC Berkeley (10), Columbia (8), Yale (7), Penn (7), Stanford (5), Dartmouth (5), Harvard (4), Duke (4), Princeton (3), and MIT and Caltech (1 each), among many others.

College outcomes

Notable colleges

Cate classes of 2022-2026 matriculated to 130+ institutions; top-ten by enrollment include UC Berkeley (13), University of Chicago (13), NYU (10), USC (10), Barnard (9), Bates (9), Northeastern (9), Tulane (9), and Brown (8). The broader list includes Boston College, Brown, Bucknell, Caltech, Carnegie Mellon, Columbia, Cornell, Dartmouth, Georgetown, Harvard, MIT, Pomona, Scripps, UVA, Wellesley, and Yale (2022-2026, cate.org college-matriculation page).

Selective admits

About 60% of the most recent graduating class attend the country's top-25 ranked colleges; roughly 21-22% attend top-25 / top-50 universities and ~11% attend Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Stanford, or MIT (College Transitions / Cardinal Education analysis of Cate placement). Treat the percentage breakdown as a third-party estimate; the named matriculation list is primary-source from cate.org.

Community

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.

Frequently asked questions

What grades does Cate School serve?

Cate School serves grades 9-12.

How many students attend Cate School?

Cate School enrolls approximately 300 students, based on the most recent published figures.

Is Cate School a public or private school?

Cate School is a private high school.

What is Cate School's mascot?

Cate School's mascot is the Rams, and its school colors are blue and white.

When was Cate School founded?

Cate School was founded in 1910.

What sports does Cate School offer?

Cate School fields 13 sports teams. See the Athletics section above for the full list by season.

How much is tuition at Cate School?

Cate School's tuition is $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.. Confirm the current figure and what it includes directly with the school.

Where is Cate School located?

Cate School is located at 1960 Cate Mesa Road, Carpinteria, CA, 93013.