How to Enroll at Costa Mesa High School
Costa Mesa High School enrolls students by Newport-Mesa Unified attendance area: students who live inside the boundary register by address, with no entrance exam. The district's School Locator is the authority on which school an address is assigned to.
District residents who want a school other than their assigned one can file a Parent School Choice Transfer on SchoolMint and list up to three schools. For 2026-27 the window ran from January 15 to March 15, 2026; applications were then ranked by random lottery, with siblings of current students given priority. A late window opens in July, and students not offered a seat stay on that year's waiting list. Applications are not screened for grades, attendance or discipline, and waiting lists do not roll over to the next year.
Students who live outside the district, including Irvine residents, must first obtain an inter-district transfer form with a release from their home district and then submit it to Newport-Mesa Unified Student Services. The district states that it generally approves inter-district permits in only three limited cases: a student whose family moves out mid-year may finish that year; a student may stay with a class that is graduating or promoting that year; and a senior may return to the school attended as a junior after moving out of the district.
Costa Mesa High School also enrolls middle school students in grades 7 and 8. In high school, enrolling in an AP course requires a recommendation from the student's current teacher in that subject and an AP contract signed by the student, a parent and the teachers involved.
Courses and Signature Programs at Costa Mesa High School
In the 2026-27 University of California A-G course list, Costa Mesa High School has 169 approved courses, including 26 AP courses and 29 UC-approved honors courses (courses that receive extra weight in the UC GPA). See the full A-G list.
- Advanced Placement (AP)
- AP is the College Board's program of college-level courses. Costa Mesa High School offers AP courses in English, science, social science, math, computer science, visual arts and world languages; students need a teacher recommendation and a signed AP contract to enroll.
- Project Lead The Way (PLTW) Engineering
- PLTW is a project-based engineering curriculum. The school offers Introduction to Engineering Design in grade 9, Principles of Engineering in grade 10 and Aerospace Engineering in grade 11, each a prerequisite for the next, and all three meet the UC A-G "G" elective requirement.
- Mandarin
- The school offers Mandarin 1 through Mandarin 4, and Mandarin 3 prepares students for AP Chinese Language and Culture in their fourth year of study.
- Career Technical Education (CTE) Pathways
- The school website lists six pathways: Child Development; Design, Visual, and Media Arts; Engineering Design; Patient Care; Professional Music; and Software Systems and Development.
- Dual Enrollment
- Newport-Mesa Unified partners with Coastline College, Golden West College and Orange Coast College so that students in grades 9 to 12 can take college courses tuition-free for both high school and college credit. Students must submit an Outside Course Approval Form before registering and check with a counselor on how the course counts toward graduation.
Academic Results at Costa Mesa High School: CAASPP and Graduation
In the 2024-25 California state tests (CAASPP), 58.3% of Costa Mesa High School 11th graders met or exceeded the English language arts standard and 26.4% met or exceeded the math standard; the statewide figures for 11th graders were 57% and 30.5%. For the class of 2025, 94% of the 299 students in the four-year cohort graduated, and 50.5% of graduates completed the A-G courses required for UC and CSU admission.
| Costa Mesa High School | California | |
|---|---|---|
| Grade 11 ELA met or exceeded | 58.3% | 57% |
| Grade 11 math met or exceeded | 26.4% | 30.5% |
Twelve Years of UC Application Data at Costa Mesa High School: Applicants, Admit Rates and GPA
The University of California publishes applicants, admits and enrollees for every California high school. Combined 2023–2025, 117 of 172 applications from Costa Mesa High School to the UC system were admitted (68%). Categories with fewer than five students are not published by UC and appear as "—", not zero.
The ten lines are hard to tell apart where they overlap. Hover over any campus name below to highlight that campus’s trend; click to keep it highlighted, and click again to clear it.Tap any campus name below to highlight that campus’s trend; tap again to clear it.
| UC campus (fall 2025) | Applicants | Admits | Admit rate | Enrollees | Admit GPA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UC Berkeley | 22 | 4 | 18% | — | — |
| UC Los Angeles | 38 | — | — | — | — |
| UC San Diego | 42 | 13 | 31% | 4 | 4.21 |
| UC Davis | 13 | 6 | 46% | — | 4.16 |
| UC Irvine | 52 | 13 | 25% | 8 | 4.12 |
| UC Santa Barbara | 28 | 8 | 29% | — | 4.16 |
| UC Merced | 11 | 11 | 100% | — | 3.76 |
| UC Riverside | 24 | 23 | 96% | — | 3.83 |
| UC Santa Cruz | 18 | 15 | 83% | — | 3.85 |
Student Body at Costa Mesa High School
In 2025-26, 73.2% of Costa Mesa High School students were socioeconomically disadvantaged and 14.4% were English learners.
Costa Mesa High School: Frequently Asked Questions
Can Irvine families transfer to Costa Mesa High School?
Costa Mesa High School belongs to Newport-Mesa Unified, so a family living in Irvine is out of district and must request an inter-district transfer. The district states that it generally approves such permits in only three limited cases: finishing the school year after moving out mid-year, staying with a class that is graduating or promoting that year, and returning as a senior after moving out during junior year. Irvine students who do not fit one of these cases have limited chances of approval.
For Irvine families: what AP and honors courses does Costa Mesa High School offer?
Costa Mesa High School offers AP courses in English, science, social science, math, computer science, visual arts and world languages; the 2026-27 course selection notebook includes AP Calculus AB and BC, AP Computer Science A and AP Chinese Language and Culture. The 2024-25 School Profile lists Honors Biology, Honors Chemistry and Honors Enhanced Math III among its honors courses. AP enrollment requires a teacher recommendation and an AP contract signed by the student, a parent and the teachers.
How does Costa Mesa High School weight GPA, a question Irvine families often ask?
Costa Mesa High School weights AP and honors grades in the GPA shown on its transcript. According to the 2024-25 School Profile, AP courses earn A=5, B=4 and C=3, while honors courses earn A=4.5, B=3.5 and C=2.5. Neither the school nor Newport-Mesa Unified ranks students.
For Irvine families: is Costa Mesa High School a combined middle and high school?
Costa Mesa High School is a combined middle and high school that shares its Fairview Road campus with its middle school program, serves grades 7 through 12, and uses the name Costa Mesa Middle and High School on its website. The 2024-25 School Profile describes it as one of four comprehensive high schools in Newport-Mesa Unified, running a 4 x 4 block schedule that meets every other day.
Other Public High Schools in Costa Mesa
- Estancia High SchoolNewport-Mesa Unified School District
Compare all public high schools in Costa Mesa → · Orange County public high schools by city →
Sources16 sources · checked 2026-11-14
Enrollment, student body, CAASPP and graduation data come from the California Department of Education. UC admissions data come from the University of California Information Center public data tables, downloaded Nov 2026.
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