Martin Luther King High School

Riverside · Riverside County · Monterey Peninsula Unified
Public Riverside County 🏛 Monterey Peninsula Unified → ~137 seniors CDS 2766092…
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Compare with peers

Most similar nearby schools

Bay View Academy → Dual Language Academy Of The Monterey Peninsula → Pacific Grove High School → Monterey Bay Charter → Carmel High School → Compare all similar →

Enrollment trend & projection

Total enrollment
415 (2018)510 (2026)
+22.9%

If this trend holds (+2.6%/yr, Total enrollment)

At per-pupil funding of $ / student:

Horizon Projected Total enrollment Change Funding impact / yr
1 yr (2027) ~523 +13 $0
3 yr (2029) ~551 +41 $0
5 yr (2031) ~580 +70 $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 Riverside County baseline — the demographic tide is moving every CA HS, so a school's gap vs. county is the actionable signal.

Stability rate
91.1%
531 of 583 students

52 of 583 students who enrolled at Martin Luther King High School this year didn't maintain continuous enrollment (8.9% non-stability). Mid-year transfers, dropouts, and other exits are all counted.

Riverside County median
86.3% · school is in the 79th percentile of 123 HS
Statewide median
88.7% · in the 65th percentile of 2,648 HS

Stability by student group

Socio. disadvantaged (525) 93.0%
Hispanic / Latino (470) 92.1%
English learners (296) 94.3%
Students w/ disabilities (160) 89.4%
Black / African Am. (26) 76.9%
White (25) 80.0%

Nearest peer high schools

Bay View Academy 91.7% Dual Language Academy Of The Monterey Peninsula 92.6% Pacific Grove High School 93.5% Monterey Bay Charter 85.6% Carmel High School 94.4%

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: total enrollment.

Chronic absent
16.8%
96 of 571 students

Absenteeism is up 5.3 pp since 2016-17. A rising absenteeism trend often precedes formal departure — worth investigating which subgroups are driving it.

Riverside County median
27.0% · school is better than 75% of 123 HS
Statewide median
20.9%
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).

District financial profile — Monterey Peninsula 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
$168.0M
+15.7% since FY2017
Per-pupil revenue
$17,865
9,403 students enrolled
Revenue mix
State: 38.9%
Local: 46.2%
Federal: 14.9%
Instruction share
51.2%
of current spending · $7,772/pupil
Long-term debt
$228.6M
+147.4% since FY2017
Total revenue by year ($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 Monterey Peninsula 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
★ Top 5% UC Reach
UC Reach
92%
126 admits / 137 seniors (class size est.)
+67.5 pp above peer median (24.5%) · Ranked #1 of 5 similar schools
5-year trend
2021 · 198.9% 2025 · 92.0%
Where this sits on the California curve
CA median
18.5%
Peer median
24.5%
Top 10%
53.3%
This school
92.0%
0%50%100%
CA median 18.5% Top 10% ≥ 53.3% This school 92.0%

Higher than 99% of California high schools (1105 ranked, ≥50 seniors)

📊 What this number means

Martin Luther King High School's UC Reach of 92.0% clears the statewide top-10% cutoff (53.3%) — meaning roughly 92 top-6 UC admits per 100 seniors, well above what most California schools achieve.

For context, the elite tier (top 1%) clears 102.7% — a gap of 11 pp from where this school sits.

Overall, Martin Luther King High School's UC Reach is higher than 99% of California high schools (1105 ranked).

UC Application Reach
409.5%
561 applications
Exceptionally ambitious student body. The typical senior is applying to about 4 of the 6 most selective UCs — a culture of pursuing every major UC option.
In context: CA median 78.3% · Top 10% statewide ≥ 245.8% · Riverside Co. Top 10% ≥ 124.1% · higher than 99% of CA HS.
UC Admit Rate
22.5%
126 / 561 applications
In context: CA median 26.0% · Top 10% statewide ≥ 40.5% · higher than 30% of CA HS.
UC Yield Rate
27.8%
35 enrolled of 126 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
25.5%
35 enrollees / 137 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.
UC 6-Yr Grad Rate
88%
76% finished in 4 yrs · N=105 entered 2019
In context: CA median 88.6%.
Selective UC Reach (UCSD, UCSB, UCI, UCD)
78.8
per 100 seniors · campus-level total
In context: CA median 15.7 · Top 10% statewide ≥ 42.4 · higher than 99% of CA HS.
Elite UC Reach (UCB + UCLA)
15.3
per 100 seniors · campus-level total
In context: CA median 3.5 · Top 10% statewide ≥ 11.1 · higher than 96% of CA HS.
Senior Class Size
137
Total enrollment ÷ 4 (proxy)
Total School Enrollment
548
All grades · CDE Census Day

Martin Luther King High School — Enrollment & Outcomes Snapshot

Public · Riverside · vs. 10 most similar nearby schools

  • On UC Reach, Martin Luther King High School sits near the top of its similar-school group (ranked #1 of 5): 92% vs. a peer median of 24%.
  • Its UC Reach has slipped 83 points since 2018 — worth watching.
  • Enrollment has been growing (+2.6%/yr); projects to ~551 by 2029.

Enrollment projection

510 students (2026)
~551 projected (2029)
at +2.6%/yr

Your school vs. its 10 most similar nearby schools

School Type Size UC Reach Enroll. trend
Martin Luther King High School Public 510 92.0%
Peer-group median 24.5% -9%
Bay View Academy Public 465
Dual Language Academy Of The Monterey Peninsula Public 396
Pacific Grove High School Public 539 39.8% -5%
Monterey Bay Charter Public 472
Carmel High School Public 736 44.0% -7%
Marina High Public 777 9.2% +43%
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Academy Public 557
Seaside High School Public 981 4.3% -11%
Ceiba College Preparatory Academy Public 494 -26%
Monterey County Home Charter Public 260 -32%

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
3.88
Avg. Admitted GPA · top-6 UCs
4.25

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 3.95 17.5% 12.0% +5.5pp Over
UCLA 3.92 9.6% 9.0% +0.6pp On target
UC San Diego 3.87 22.8% 22.9% -0.1pp On target
UC Santa Barbara 3.88 28.6% 27.8% +0.7pp On target
UC Irvine 3.84 25.4% 21.1% +4.3pp On target
UC Davis 3.83 36.0% 32.1% +3.9pp 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 Martin Luther King High School sits vs. all California schools

Overall, this school admits its UC applicants in line with what their GPAs predict (22.5% actual vs. 20.3% 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 63 11 6 17.5% 8.0% 54.5% 3.95 4.27
UCLA → Elite 104 10 5 9.6% 7.3% 50.0% 3.92 4.34
UC San Diego → Selective 123 28 10 22.8% 20.4% 35.7% 3.87 4.21
UC Santa Barbara → Selective 91 26 4 28.6% 19.0% 15.4% 3.88 4.29
UC Irvine → Selective 130 33 10 25.4% 24.1% 30.3% 3.84 4.25
UC Davis → 50 18 36.0% 13.1% 3.83 4.22
⚠ 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

A large share of the senior class applies to UC, indicating strong college-going culture and UC pipeline development.
A large share of the class applies to UC, so the admit rate runs lower than the application volume alone might suggest — expected when many students apply broadly, including to reach campuses. UC Reach (which credits every admit relative to the class) is the truer read of how the class fares: a strong Reach alongside a moderate admit rate is healthy, not a contradiction.
UC Reach is very strong — more than 92% of seniors are earning UC admission. This places the school among California's highest-performing high schools on this metric.
Strong UC Reach paired with low yield: students are earning UC admission at high rates and then enrolling elsewhere. The pattern is characteristic of competitive college-preparatory schools where many students choose more selective private colleges or out-of-state flagships over UC — UC functions as a strong backup option rather than a first choice.
Berkeley and UCLA admit volume is strong — a clear high-end signal for this school's academic preparation.
UC Reach has improved meaningfully compared to the prior year — a positive trajectory worth monitoring and reinforcing.
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.
Senior class size is estimated from CDE grade 12 enrollment data. Reach percentages should be interpreted as approximate.
Compare with other schools → See Riverside County rankings →

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