How to Enroll at Santa Ana High School
Santa Ana High School enrolls students by Santa Ana Unified attendance area: students who live inside the boundary register by address, with no entrance exam.
Students who live in another Santa Ana Unified attendance area and students who live outside the district both apply through the district's School of Choice Transfer process. Each student may submit only one application per school year, and it cannot be changed or withdrawn once submitted. The 2026-27 window ran from 8 a.m. on January 8 to 4 p.m. on January 23, 2026; the 2027-28 window had not been announced as of November 2026.
When requests exceed capacity, the district first places students in priority categories set by law and policy, including victims of violence or bullying at school, children of active-duty military parents, students with a sibling who will still attend the school, and children of employees who work there; remaining applicants are chosen by random lottery, without regard to academic or athletic performance, and no resident of the attendance area is displaced by a transfer student. Approved families must confirm within 10 school days of notification, and the 2026-27 waiting list expired on May 28, 2026. The district does not provide transportation for transfer students. The district's 2026-27 availability list placed Santa Ana High School among schools near capacity, with limited seats in grade 9 only.
Students who live outside the district, including Irvine residents, must first obtain a release from their home district, which forwards the approved inter-district permit to Santa Ana Unified for a decision; they must also file a School of Choice application during the window. Inter-district students must reapply every year to remain at Santa Ana High School.
Once enrolled, all Santa Ana High School students have access to its honors and AP courses and its programs, and counselors pre-select each student's core English and math classes. Some programs require an application or interview; AVID, for example, asks for a GPA of 2.0 or above and an online application.
Courses and Signature Programs at Santa Ana High School
In the 2026-27 University of California A-G course list, Santa Ana High School has 176 approved courses, including 19 AP courses and 33 UC-approved honors courses (courses that receive extra weight in the UC GPA). See the full A-G list.
- SanArts Conservatory
- SanArts is Santa Ana High School's arts conservatory, with schools of music, dance, theatre, digital and visual arts, and cinematic arts. Students are placed at beginning, intermediate or advanced levels and attend masterclasses led by university faculty and working artists. The school states that all students are welcome regardless of experience.
- Career Technical Education (CTE)
- All CTE courses at the school are UC A-G approved, including Auto I-III, Criminal Justice, Medical Assistant I and II, Fashion Design, Culinary Arts, Child Development and Video Production. Some CTE courses are taught on campus by approved teachers for Santa Ana College dual enrollment credit, with no tuition.
- Project Lead The Way (PLTW) Engineering
- PLTW is a project-based engineering curriculum. The school offers Introduction to Engineering, Principles of Engineering and Digital Electronics, along with a Software Engineering course.
- AVID (Advancement Via Individual Determination)
- AVID is a college readiness elective that teaches time management, focused note-taking and inquiry-based learning, with tutoring support and college and career exploration. The school welcomes students with a GPA of 2.0 or above who plan to attend a two-year or four-year college, especially future first-generation college students, who apply through an online form.
- Santa Ana College Dual Enrollment
- Students can take transferable Santa Ana College courses tuition-free, up to 11.5 units each fall and spring semester, earning credit toward both the high school diploma and a college degree. Students first confirm courses with a counselor, apply to Santa Ana College, and submit a Special Admit Form signed by the counselor and a parent and approved by the college's division dean.
Academic Results at Santa Ana High School: CAASPP and Graduation
In the 2024-25 California state tests (CAASPP), 41.6% of Santa Ana High School 11th graders met or exceeded the English language arts standard and 14.8% met or exceeded the math standard; the statewide figures for 11th graders were 57% and 30.5%. For the class of 2025, 93.6% of the 625 students in the four-year cohort graduated, and 43.1% of graduates completed the A-G courses required for UC and CSU admission.
| Santa Ana High School | California | |
|---|---|---|
| Grade 11 ELA met or exceeded | 41.6% | 57% |
| Grade 11 math met or exceeded | 14.8% | 30.5% |
Twelve Years of UC Application Data at Santa Ana High School: Applicants, Admit Rates and GPA
The University of California publishes applicants, admits and enrollees for every California high school. Combined 2023–2025, 286 of 432 applications from Santa Ana High School to the UC system were admitted (66%). 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 | 47 | 12 | 26% | 6 | 4.21 |
| UC Los Angeles | 84 | 7 | 8% | 4 | 4.28 |
| UC San Diego | 62 | 14 | 23% | — | 4.14 |
| UC Davis | 52 | 9 | 17% | — | 4.04 |
| UC Irvine | 105 | 18 | 17% | 3 | 4.09 |
| UC Santa Barbara | 47 | 23 | 49% | 7 | 4.05 |
| UC Merced | 45 | 43 | 96% | — | 3.68 |
| UC Riverside | 82 | 62 | 76% | 6 | 3.74 |
| UC Santa Cruz | 29 | 15 | 52% | — | 3.89 |
Student Body at Santa Ana High School
In 2025-26, 94.7% of Santa Ana High School students were socioeconomically disadvantaged and 34.4% were English learners.
Santa Ana High School: Frequently Asked Questions
Can Irvine families transfer to Santa Ana High School?
Santa Ana High School belongs to Santa Ana Unified, so an Irvine family is out of district: it must first obtain a release from its home district, such as Irvine Unified, and then apply to Santa Ana Unified during the January School of Choice window, which ran from January 8 to January 23, 2026 for 2026-27. Seats are allocated by priority category and random lottery, and the district's 2026-27 availability list showed limited seats at the school in grade 9 only. Inter-district students must reapply every year, and the district does not provide transportation.
How do Irvine families choose honors and AP courses at Santa Ana High School?
Santa Ana High School opens all of its honors and AP courses and programs to every student. The counseling office explains that AP courses are College Board college-level courses, and that registering for one is a yearlong commitment that includes the AP exam in May. Counselors pre-select core English and math classes, and students choose the rest using each grade's course selection guide and the graduation flow chart.
Can students from Irvine families join the SanArts Conservatory at Santa Ana High School?
Santa Ana High School's SanArts Conservatory is open to the school's students regardless of experience, so an Irvine student would first need to enroll through an inter-district transfer. SanArts has schools of music, dance, theatre, digital and visual arts, and cinematic arts; students are placed by level, and masterclasses take place on campus, at partner universities or in the community.
How do Irvine families' students take dual enrollment courses at Santa Ana High School?
Santa Ana High School students can take Santa Ana College courses tuition-free, up to 11.5 units each fall and spring semester, with credit counting toward both the high school diploma and a college degree. Students in CTE courses can also earn Santa Ana College credit in classes taught on their own campus. Before registering, students confirm courses with a counselor and submit a Special Admit Form signed by the counselor and a parent and approved by a division dean.
Other Public High Schools in Santa Ana
- Advanced Learning AcademySanta Ana Unified School District
- Century High SchoolSanta Ana Unified School District
- Ednovate - Legacy College Prep.Orange County Department of Education
- Foothill High SchoolTustin Unified School District · in-depth guide
- Hector G. GodinezSanta Ana Unified School District
- Magnolia Science Academy Santa AnaSBE - Magnolia Science Academy Santa Ana · in-depth guide
- Nova Academy Early College High SchoolSanta Ana Unified School District
- OCSAOrange County Department of Education · in-depth guide
- Saddleback High SchoolSanta Ana Unified School District
- Samueli AcademyOrange County Department of Education
- Segerstrom High SchoolSanta Ana Unified School District
- Valley High SchoolSanta Ana Unified School District
- Vista Meridian Global AcademyOrange County Department of Education
Compare all public high schools in Santa Ana → · Orange County public high schools by city →
Sources14 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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