Lancaster High School

Lancaster · Los Angeles County · Antelope Valley Union High
Public Los Angeles County 🏛 Antelope Valley Union High → ~638 seniors CDS 1964246…
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Most similar nearby schools

Assurance Learning Academy → Quartz Hill High School → Eastside High School → Highland High → Palmdale Aerospace Academy → Compare all similar →

Enrollment trend & projection

Total enrollment (9–12)
2,447 (2018)2,871 (2026)
+17.3%
Grade 12 (graduating class)
582 (2018)733 (2026)
+25.9%

If this trend holds (+2.0%/yr, Total enrollment)

At per-pupil funding of $ / student:

Horizon Projected Total enrollment Change Funding impact / yr
1 yr (2027) ~2,929 +58 $0
3 yr (2029) ~3,048 +177 $0
5 yr (2031) ~3,173 +302 $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 Los Angeles County baseline — the demographic tide is moving every CA HS, so a school's gap vs. county is the actionable signal.

Mixed signal
Demand outpacing county is masking internal churn.

Enrollment growth is beating Los Angeles County (+25.9% vs. -8.2%), but 572 of 3018 students didn't maintain continuous enrollment. Why are families leaving once enrolled? Chronic absenteeism is rising (28.3%, +9.5 pts since 2016-17) — a watch signal worth monitoring as a leading indicator.

+25.9%  school enrollment (2018–2026)
-8.2%  Los Angeles County baseline
+34.1pp  gap vs. county
81.0%  retention (county median 87.3%)
Enrollment — indexed to 100 at 2018
Stability rate by year (raw %)
Stability rate
81.0%
2,446 of 3,018 students

572 of 3,018 students who enrolled at Lancaster High School this year didn't maintain continuous enrollment (19.0% non-stability). Mid-year transfers, dropouts, and other exits are all counted.

Los Angeles County median
87.3% · school is in the 28th percentile of 387 HS
Statewide median
87.2% · in the 31st percentile of 1,688 HS

Stability by student group

Socio. disadvantaged (2,181) 79.5%
Hispanic / Latino (1,737) 81.9%
Black / African Am. (724) 75.0%
Students w/ disabilities (568) 78.7%
White (282) 87.2%
English learners (184) 73.4%

Nearest peer high schools

Assurance Learning Academy 46.6% Quartz Hill High School 88.6% Eastside High School 81.5% Highland High 85.6% Palmdale Aerospace Academy 91.8%

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
28.2%
823 of 2,914 students

Absenteeism is up 9.4 pp since 2016-17. A rising absenteeism trend often precedes formal departure — worth investigating which subgroups are driving it.

Los Angeles County median
25.2% · school is worse than 56% of 381 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 = 630
35.4%
incl. 9.8% exceeded
-22.6 pts vs. Los Angeles County median (58.0%) · CA median 54.3% · Top 10% statewide ≥ 79.3%
Math — met or exceeded
n = 630
11.6%
incl. 3.6% exceeded
-13.4 pts vs. Los Angeles County median (25.0%) · 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 58% +1.9
Black / African Am. 24%
White 9% -1.4
Two or more 5%
Filipino 2%
Asian 1%
American Indian 0%

Program subgroups

Students w/ disabilities 67% +1.3
Socioeconomically disadv. 19% +1.9
English learners 6%
Homeless 3%
Foster youth 2%

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 — Antelope Valley Union High (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
$352.0M
+5.1% since FY2017
Per-pupil revenue
$16,005
21,991 students enrolled
Revenue mix
State: 66.8%
Local: 21.3%
Federal: 12.0%
Instruction share
58.8%
of current spending · $8,345/pupil
Long-term debt
$60.9M
-14.5% since FY2017
Total revenue by year ($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 Antelope Valley Union High 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
8%
48 admits / 638 seniors
-3.1 pp vs. peer median (10.6%) · Ranked #10 of 10 similar schools
5-year trend
2021 · 9.5% 2025 · 7.5%
Where this sits on the California curve
CA median
18.5%
Peer median
10.6%
Top 10%
53.3%
This school
7.5%
0%50%100%
CA median 18.5% Top 10% ≥ 53.3% This school 7.5%

Higher than 10% of California high schools (1105 ranked, ≥50 seniors)

📊 What this number means

Lancaster High School's UC Reach of 7.5% is below the California median (18.5%). The top 10% of CA schools achieve 53.3% or higher.

Overall, Lancaster High School's UC Reach is higher than 10% of California high schools (1105 ranked).

UC Application Reach
33.7%
215 applications
In context: CA median 78.3% · Top 10% statewide ≥ 245.8% · Los Angeles Co. Top 10% ≥ 252.7% · higher than 12% of CA HS.
UC Admit Rate
22.3%
48 / 215 applications
In context: CA median 26.0% · Top 10% statewide ≥ 40.5% · higher than 29% of CA HS.
UC Yield Rate
16.7%
8 enrolled of 48 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
1.3%
8 enrollees / 638 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
410:1
7.0 FTE counselors · 2,871 students
In context: CA median 338:1 · 72 more students per counselor · ASCA target 250:1.
A-G Completion
35%
202 of 578 graduates · 2024-25 cohort
In context: CA median 55.9% · -21.0 pp vs. median · Los Angeles Co. 68.2%.
UC 6-Yr Grad Rate
82%
59% finished in 4 yrs · N=22 entered 2019
In context: CA median 88.6% · -6.8 pp vs. median.
Selective UC Reach (UCSD, UCSB, UCI, UCD)
6.9
per 100 seniors · campus-level total
In context: CA median 15.7 · Top 10% statewide ≥ 42.4 · higher than 9% of CA HS.
Elite UC Reach (UCB + UCLA)
1.1
per 100 seniors · campus-level total
In context: CA median 3.5 · Top 10% statewide ≥ 11.1 · higher than 6% of CA HS.
Senior Class Size
638
CDE grade 12 (exact)
Total School Enrollment
2,688
All grades · CDE Census Day
Economic Connectedness
0.95
42nd percentile in CA · cross‑class friendships

Lancaster High School — Enrollment & Outcomes Snapshot

Public · Lancaster · vs. 10 most similar nearby schools

  • On UC Reach, Lancaster High School sits near the bottom of its similar-school group (ranked #10 of 10): 8% vs. a peer median of 11%.
  • Its UC Reach has held roughly steady since 2018.
  • Senior-class enrollment is up 26% (582→733 from 2018 to 2026), outpacing the peer-group median of -2%.
  • Enrollment has been growing (+2.0%/yr); projects to ~3048 by 2029.

Enrollment projection

2871 students (2026)
~3048 projected (2029)
at +2.0%/yr

Your school vs. its 10 most similar nearby schools

School Type Size UC Reach Enroll. trend
Lancaster High School Public 2871 7.5% +26%
Peer-group median 10.6% -2%
Assurance Learning Academy Public 2843 -8%
Quartz Hill High School Public 3032 16.2% -0%
Eastside High School Public 2616 8.6% +21%
Highland High Public 2725 9.8% -4%
Palmdale Aerospace Academy Public 2303 21.5% +30%
Palmdale High School Public 2106 10.4% -13%
William J Pete Knight High Sch Public 2325 15.1% -14%
Antelope Valley High School Public 1378 10.6% -12%
Littlerock High School Public 1556 7.8% +8%
Saugus High School Public 2329 15.3% -0%

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
3.67
Avg. Admitted GPA · top-6 UCs
4.17

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 Berkeley 3.66 14.8% 14.0% +0.8pp On target
UCLA 3.66 5.5% 9.5% -4.1pp On target
UC San Diego 3.69 28.6% 28.6% 0.0pp On target
UC Santa Barbara 3.69 40.5% 27.0% +13.6pp Over
UC Irvine 3.65 25.5% 17.0% +8.5pp Over
UC Davis 3.70 28.6% 32.1% -3.6pp On target
"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.

Where Lancaster High School sits vs. all California schools

Overall, this school admits its UC applicants in line with what their GPAs predict (22.3% actual vs. 19.3% expected).

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 27 4 14.8% 0.6% 3.66
UCLA → Elite 55 3 5.5% 0.5% 3.66
UC San Diego → Selective 35 10 5 28.6% 1.6% 50.0% 3.69 4.18
UC Santa Barbara → Selective 37 15 40.5% 2.4% 3.69 4.18
UC Irvine → Selective 47 12 3 25.5% 1.9% 25.0% 3.65 4.15
UC Davis → 14 4 28.6% 0.6% 3.70
⚠ 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.
Students are earning UC admission but enrolling elsewhere at a notable rate. This may reflect competition from private colleges, out-of-state flagships, cost considerations, or UC campus fit. Student outcome surveys can clarify.
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 Los Angeles County rankings →

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