Gustine High School

Gustine · Merced County · Gustine Unified
Public Merced County 🏛 Gustine Unified → ~128 seniors CDS 2473619…
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Compare with peers

Most similar nearby schools

Orestimba High School → Hilmar High School → Delhi High School → Stanislaus Alternative Charter → Keyes To Learning Charter → Compare all similar →

Enrollment trend & projection

Total enrollment (9–12)
595 (2018)518 (2026)
-12.9%
Grade 12 (graduating class)
142 (2018)117 (2026)
-17.6%

If this trend holds (-1.7%/yr, Total enrollment)

At per-pupil funding of $ / student:

Horizon Projected Total enrollment Change Funding impact / yr
1 yr (2027) ~509 -9 $0
3 yr (2029) ~492 -26 $0
5 yr (2031) ~475 -43 $0

Straight-line extrapolation of the recent annual rate — a what-if, not a forecast of intent. Default = California's LCFF base grant for grades 9–12 ($12,423/ADA). Edit the figure to match your school.

Enrollment stability & demand — 2024-25

Two complementary signals: retention (do students stay once enrolled?) and demand (are families choosing the school?). Read against the Merced County baseline — the demographic tide is moving every CA HS, so a school's gap vs. county is the actionable signal.

Critical
Sharp demand downturn hidden by elite retention.

Gustine High School's enrollment is shrinking 2.3× the county rate (school -17.6% vs. county +7.6%). Stability of 92.3% means every family you keep is one fewer; the leverage is at recruitment, not retention. This is the case the high stability number alone would hide.

-17.6%  school enrollment (2018–2026)
+7.6%  Merced County baseline
-25.2pp  gap vs. county
92.3%  retention (county median 87.2%)
Enrollment — indexed to 100 at 2018
Stability rate by year (raw %)
Stability rate
92.3%
502 of 544 students

42 of 544 students who enrolled at Gustine High School this year didn't maintain continuous enrollment (7.7% non-stability). Mid-year transfers, dropouts, and other exits are all counted.

Merced County median
87.2% · school is in the 95th percentile of 19 HS
Statewide median
87.2% · in the 77th percentile of 1,688 HS

Stability by student group

Hispanic / Latino (460) 91.5%
Socio. disadvantaged (455) 91.2%
English learners (117) 88.0%
White (55) 96.4%
Students w/ disabilities (51) 90.2%

Nearest peer high schools

Orestimba High School 89.6% Hilmar High School 93.2% Delhi High School 88.9% Stanislaus Alternative Charter 27.7% Keyes To Learning Charter 88.4%

Source: California Department of Education, Stability Rate 2024-25. Benchmarks limited to non-virtual public & charter HS with ≥100 cumulative enrollees so by-design-high-churn continuation schools don't dominate the bottom of the distribution. Cumulative enrollment counts every student on the rolls during the year, so it can exceed peak-day enrollment.

Chronic absenteeism — 2024-25

Share of students missing 10% or more of expected attendance — the leading indicator that often precedes the demand decline shown above. Families disengaging tend to raise absenteeism first, then formally leave. Basis: grades 9–12.

Chronic absent
28.9%
155 of 536 students

Absenteeism is up 13.4 pp since 2016-17. A rising absenteeism trend often precedes formal departure — worth investigating which subgroups are driving it.

Merced County median
26.3% · school is worse than 63% of 19 HS
Statewide median
22.9%
Chronic absenteeism by year (raw %)

Source: California Department of Education, Chronic Absenteeism 2024-25. Benchmarks limited to non-virtual public & charter HS with ≥100 eligible students. CDE didn't publish a usable 2019-20 file (COVID).

SBAC academic outcomes — grade 11, 2025

Share of grade-11 students meeting or exceeding the California standard on Smarter Balanced ELA and Math. This is the academic-readiness signal that pairs with UC Reach (post-grad outcomes), stability (retention), and absenteeism (engagement). Note: statewide median Math is only ~20% — a school at 20% isn't an outlier; one at 45%+ genuinely is.

ELA — met or exceeded
n = 114
48.2%
incl. 21.1% exceeded
+5.6 pts above Merced County median (42.6%) · CA median 54.3% · Top 10% statewide ≥ 79.3%
Math — met or exceeded
n = 115
10.4%
incl. 0.9% exceeded
-3.2 pts vs. Merced County median (13.6%) · CA median 21.1% · Top 10% statewide ≥ 53.6%

Source: California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress (CAASPP) Smarter Balanced research files. Benchmarks limited to non-virtual public & charter HS with ≥30 tested students.

Student composition — 2025-26

HS grades 9–12 racial/ethnic composition and program subgroups, from CDE Census Day Enrollment. Two-year shift shown when ≥1 pt — surfaces how the community served has changed since 2023-24.

Race / ethnicity

Hispanic / Latino 85% +1.6
White 9% -1.5
Not reported 2%
Filipino 1%
Asian 1%
Two or more 1%

Program subgroups

Students w/ disabilities 83% +2.1
English learners 20% -4.3
Socioeconomically disadv. 5% -3.3

Source: California Department of Education, Census Day Enrollment 2025-26 (HS grades 9–12). Δ shown when shift is ≥1 pt since 2023-24. Categories below 0.5% omitted.

District financial profile — Gustine Unified (FY2020)

From 4 years of NCES F-33 filings (the federally-mandated district finance survey). Public schools don't have their own books — the district does. These figures show the financial scale, revenue dependence, instruction-vs-overhead mix, and long-term debt that shape what a school can sustain.

Total revenue
$30.7M
+24.4% since FY2017
Per-pupil revenue
$17,400
1,765 students enrolled
Revenue mix
State: 67.0%
Local: 16.6%
Federal: 16.4%
Instruction share
53.4%
of current spending · $7,562/pupil
Long-term debt
$18.4M
+177.8% since FY2017
Total revenue by year ($M)
Total expenditure by year ($M)

Source: NCES F-33 Annual Survey of School System Finances (Urban Institute Education Data API). Latest year currently published: FY2020. F-33 is a district-level federal filing — it reflects the Gustine Unified as a whole, not this individual school's books. Revenue mix shows where the district's dollars come from (state aid dominates in CA via LCFF). Instruction share is current expenditure on instruction ÷ total current expenditure (national benchmark ~60%). Long-term debt is end-of-year outstanding (mostly facilities bonds).

University of California outcomes · Class of 2025
UC Reach
5%
7 admits / 128 seniors
-3.5 pp vs. peer median (9.0%) · Ranked #6 of 8 similar schools
5-year trend
2021 · 3.3% 2025 · 5.5%
Where this sits on the California curve
CA median
18.5%
Peer median
9.0%
Top 10%
53.3%
This school
5.5%
0%50%100%
CA median 18.5% Top 10% ≥ 53.3% This school 5.5%

Higher than 5% of California high schools (1105 ranked, ≥50 seniors)

📊 What this number means

Gustine High School's UC Reach of 5.5% is below the California median (18.5%). The top 10% of CA schools achieve 53.3% or higher.

Overall, Gustine High School's UC Reach is higher than 5% of California high schools (1105 ranked).

UC Application Reach
31.2%
40 applications
In context: CA median 78.3% · Top 10% statewide ≥ 245.8% · higher than 10% of CA HS.
UC Admit Rate
17.5%
7 / 40 applications
In context: CA median 26.0% · Top 10% statewide ≥ 40.5% · higher than 5% of CA HS.
UC Yield Rate
N/A
None enrolled of 7 admitted
Yield vs. Enrollment Reach: Yield answers "of UC admits, what % chose UC?" — denominator is just the admits. A small admitted cohort can post a low yield even when the school sends a healthy share of its class to UC.
UC Enrollment Reach
N/A
None enrollees / 128 seniors
Enrollment Reach vs. Yield: Reach answers "of the whole senior class, what % ended up at UC?" — denominator is everyone. High Yield with low Enrollment Reach is common at elite privates: most admits matriculate, but the school sends most of its class to non-UC selective colleges.
Student-Counselor Ratio
259:1
2.0 FTE counselors · 518 students
In context: CA median 338:1 · 79 fewer students per counselor · ASCA target 250:1.
A-G Completion
60%
71 of 118 graduates · 2024-25 cohort
In context: CA median 55.9% · +4.3 pp above · Merced Co. 39.5%.
Selective UC Reach (UCSD, UCSB, UCI, UCD)
3.1
per 100 seniors · campus-level total
In context: CA median 15.7 · Top 10% statewide ≥ 42.4 · higher than 1% of CA HS.
Elite UC Reach (UCB + UCLA)
N/A
Senior Class Size
128
CDE grade 12 (exact)
Total School Enrollment
531
All grades · CDE Census Day
Economic Connectedness
0.74
22nd percentile in CA · cross‑class friendships

Gustine High School — Enrollment & Outcomes Snapshot

Public · Gustine · vs. 10 most similar nearby schools

  • On UC Reach, Gustine High School sits near the bottom of its similar-school group (ranked #6 of 8): 6% vs. a peer median of 9%.
  • Its UC Reach has slipped 6 points since 2018 — worth watching.
  • Senior-class enrollment is down 18% (142→117 from 2018 to 2026), trailing the peer-group median of +4%.
  • At its recent rate (-1.7%/yr), enrollment projects to ~492 by 2029 — about 26 fewer students than today.

Enrollment projection

518 students (2026)
~492 projected (2029)
at -1.7%/yr

That's about 26 fewer students. At per-student funding of $ per student, that's roughly $0 in annual state funding at risk.

Default = California's LCFF base grant for grades 9–12 ($12,423 per ADA) — adjust to your district's actual per-pupil figure. Projection extrapolates the recent annual rate — not a forecast of intent.

Your school vs. its 10 most similar nearby schools

School Type Size UC Reach Enroll. trend
Gustine High School Public 518 5.5% -18%
Peer-group median 9.0% +4%
Orestimba High School Public 902 15.2% +21%
Hilmar High School Public 700 9.0% +21%
Delhi High School Public 716 25.3% -15%
Stanislaus Alternative Charter Public 565 -69%
Keyes To Learning Charter Public 343 -15%
Aspire Vanguard College Preparatory Academy Public 654 +191%
Waterford High School Public 578 2.4% +36%
Denair High School Public 313 3.4% +8%
Dos Palos High School Public 632 8.6% -14%
Livingston High School Public 1154 9.8% +1%

UC Reach = top-6 UC admits ÷ senior class (can exceed 100% when students are admitted to multiple campuses). Enrollment trend = first-to-latest grade-12 change on file. Similar schools matched on proximity, size, type. Methodology →

Avg. Applicant GPA · top-6 UCs
3.74

Admit rate vs. CA peer average, by campus

How does this school's admit rate at each UC compare to other CA schools whose applicant pool averages the same GPA?

Campus Applicant GPA (avg) Actual admit rate CA peer avg Δ Verdict
UC Santa Barbara 3.70 66.7% 26.9% +39.7pp Over
UC Davis 3.72 18.8% 32.1% -13.3pp Under
"Applicant GPA" is the average GPA of this school's UC applicant pool — not an individual student GPA. "CA peer avg" is the application-weighted statewide admit rate at this school-pool GPA, fit separately per campus. At any given pool GPA, real admit rates span widely (UCSD ranges 8% → 65% across CA schools) because UCs use comprehensive review — context-of-opportunity, geography, demographics, and applicant essays all weigh in beyond GPA. A large negative residual flags this school is admitted at a meaningfully lower rate than other CA schools at the same pool GPA — not that students here were "rejected at expected rate X." "Over" / "Under" use a ±5-point band. Campuses with fewer than 5 applicants are omitted.

UC Outcomes Trend — 2018–2025

UC Admit Rate %
UC Reach % (where available)
UC Admits (count, right axis)

Class size from CDE grade 12 enrollment. Campus-level data — applicant/admit totals may count a student at multiple campuses more than once.

Campus Breakdown — 2025

Campus Applicants Admits Enrollees Admit Rate UC Reach Yield Avg GPA (App) Avg GPA (Adm)
UC Berkeley → Elite 7 3.81
UCLA → Elite 5 3.70
UC Santa Barbara → Selective 6 4 66.7% 3.1% 3.70
UC Irvine → Selective 6 3.79
UC Davis → 16 3 18.8% 2.3% 3.72
⚠ Campus-level totals may count one student admitted to multiple UC campuses more than once. Admit Volume metrics are not the same as UC Reach, which requires unique-student counts. See methodology →

What This Means

Fewer than 15% of seniors are earning UC admission. This may reflect a high non-UC college-going rate, significant A-G completion gaps, or an early-stage UC pipeline. A deeper review of A-G readiness and counseling capacity is warranted.
UC Reach has declined meaningfully year-over-year. This should be reviewed in context of applicant volume, GPA trends, course rigor changes, and peer-school performance before drawing conclusions.
Note: admit counts used here are campus-level totals. A student admitted to both UCLA and UCSD is counted twice. When UCOP unique-student data becomes available it will be loaded automatically and the labels will update.
Compare with other schools → See Merced County rankings →

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