Crean Lutheran High School:
Admissions, Courses and Planning

Crean Lutheran High School is located in north Irvine at the intersection of Sand Canyon Avenue and Portola Parkway. It is a coeducational college-preparatory high school in the Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod (LCMS) system, opened in 2007 on a 30-acre campus. According to the school FAQ, the school has 1,195 students in the 2026-27 school year; according to the 2026-2027 School Profile, Asian students make up 43.2% of enrollment. Three features set this school apart. First, ninth-grade applicants take no written test; all new students start in college-prep courses by default, and honors placement depends on placement tests taken after admission. Second, the UC A-G list includes 152 courses at the school, 96 of which are UC-approved honors courses, or more than three in five. Third, the school publishes complete AP exam results: in 2026, students sat 1,472 exams, and 92% scored 3 or higher. This page does not rate the school. It answers two questions: how to gain admission, and how to plan the four years after enrollment.

UC A-G refers to the seven course categories (a through g) that the University of California and California State University require of high school students; UC recognizes only courses on a school’s A-G list. AP is the College Board’s Advanced Placement program of college-level courses, and honors courses are advanced courses designed by the school.

The College-Preparation Structure at Crean Lutheran High School

The data published by the school point to four characteristics.

First, courses are organized around career pathways. The school offers four cohort programs in business, engineering, law, and medicine, and the 2026-2027 School Profile reports 742 participating students. Cohort courses are open only to students in that cohort, and most of them are UC-approved honors courses, such as Honors Marketing, Honors Introduction to Law, and the PLTW engineering courses. PLTW is the Project Lead The Way engineering curriculum.

Second, AP results are public and strong overall. In 2026, 573 students took 1,472 AP exams, with an average score of 4.0 and 92% scoring 3 or higher. The school also offers the AP Capstone program; 45 students took the AP Seminar exam, and all of them scored 3 or higher.

Third, most graduates go on to four-year universities. The school reports that 224 of 258 graduates in the Class of 2026 enrolled at four-year universities and 93 enrolled at universities ranked in the US News top 50 (Counseling page of the school website). Official UC data show that in fall 2025, 159 students applied to the University of California and 139 were admitted to at least one campus, including 17 admitted to UC Berkeley and 73 admitted to UC Irvine. The Class of 2026 averaged 1277 on the SAT and 29.1 on the ACT.

Fourth, theology and school-specific courses occupy part of the schedule. Graduation requires 27 credits, including 4 credits of theology, 2 credits of physical education, and 1 credit of Cornerstone and health, none of which is on the UC A-G list. Students usually take 7 core courses each year; an 8th core course costs an additional 1/14 of annual tuition.

How to Apply

The main entry point to Crean Lutheran High School is ninth grade. The steps below follow the school’s published calendar for entry in the 2027-28 school year (Class of 2031).

The school also offers three types of tuition reduction and one scholarship for new students. Reductions can be requested together with need-based financial aid.

For Irvine families, the most practical advantage of this school is the commute. There is no bus service, but the school is in Irvine, the website provides a carpool directory, and the campus opens at 7:00 a.m. International students should note two points in advance. Students who enroll as international students pay international tuition for all four years. In addition, the school states that its academic teams for the U.S. National Chemistry Olympiad (USNCO) and the F=ma exam of the U.S. Physics Olympiad accept only U.S. citizens and permanent residents.

Below are the school’s published application calendar for the 2027-28 school year and the EDUBUS advisors’ review of the school.

Year-by-Year UC Data: Applicants, Admission Rates, and GPA

The data below come from UC Infocenter, published by the University of California Office of the President by source high school, with the school type set to California private high school, and updated each year. They answer two questions: how many Crean Lutheran High School students apply and are admitted each year, and what GPAs admitted students hold. GPA is the UC weighted, capped GPA, which counts only courses from grades 10 and 11. UC does not publish categories with fewer than 5 applicants or fewer than 3 admitted or enrolled students; these appear as “—” in the tables.

Applications and Admissions by Campus in the Most Recent Year

Campuses are listed in order of the U.S. News national university rankings. UC leaves a category blank when it has fewer than five applicants or fewer than three admits or enrollees.

College Destinations Published by the School

The figures in this section come from the Class of 2026 statistics on the school’s Counseling page, and the college list comes from the 2026-2027 School Profile. These data differ from the official UC data above in three ways: the school compiles them itself; the figures are Class of 2026 enrollment counts, whereas the most recent year of official UC data covers applicants for fall 2025 entry; and only colleges outside UC are retained here. Note the basis of the data: the figures are enrollment counts, not admission counts, and the college list names some of the colleges recent graduates have attended, without counts.

The value of this list lies beyond UC. It is broad, covering research universities such as Stanford University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and Harvard University; Christian universities such as Concordia University Irvine and Biola University; and universities in Japan, Korea, and the United Kingdom. These are summaries of enrollment outcomes and cannot be used to estimate the admission rate at any particular university. UC applications, admissions, and enrollments should always be taken from the official UC data above.

GPA Weighting: The School Method and the UC Method

This section addresses the question parents most often miscalculate: how the school and UC each weight the same transcript. The school’s rules come first.

The UC list automatically identifies only 4 courses as “school honors, not weighted by UC,” but that list is incomplete. A course-by-course comparison of the school catalog with the UC list shows that the following courses are weighted as honors courses at Crean Lutheran High School but count as regular courses in UC applications.

The figure of 96 courses needs to be broken down. Of these, 28 are AP courses and 68 are honors courses the school submitted for UC certification; of the 68, 22 are arts courses and 22 are g-category electives, 44 in total. Many arts honors courses require an audition or portfolio, many elective honors courses are open only to a particular cohort, and some last only half a semester. What actually affects the UC GPA are the few courses taken in grades 10 and 11: UC counts at most 8 honors points, with no more than 4 in grade 10, which equals two full-year honors courses.

Two other school rules can also push the school GPA above the UC GPA. First, regular world language courses taken for dual credit are weighted as honors courses at the school but remain regular courses on the UC list. Second, after a score of 5 or 4 on an AP exam, the school raises the transcript grade for that course. EDUBUS recommends that grade 10 schedule space go first to UC-approved honors courses, such as Honors British Literature and Composition, AP World History: Modern, Honors Chemistry, or AP Precalculus. When estimating UC admission chances, recalculate the GPA under UC rules rather than using the weighted GPA on the school transcript.

Four-Year Timeline

Three milestones truly determine the direction. The first is the optional placement test in January and February of grade 8, which determines whether the student can skip Algebra I and enter Honors Biology and honors English in grade 9. The second is final grades in grade 9: the prerequisite for most honors and AP courses is an A- or higher in the preceding CP course, or a B- or B or higher in the preceding honors course, so a B+ in a ninth-grade CP course closes off honors or AP in that subject in grade 10. The third is spring course selection and AP exams in grade 10: AP Seminar requires a score of 3 or higher on AP Human Geography or AP World History, and AP Calculus BC requires a B or higher in AP Precalculus. This milestone determines the rigor of the grade 11 schedule.

Clubs and Academic Competitions

The Crean Lutheran High School FAQ lists more than 70 clubs, along with 9 honor societies and the California Scholarship Federation (CSF). The honor societies related to academics and career pathways include:

• National Honor Society (NHS)
• Mu Alpha Theta (mathematics honor society)
• Science National Honor Society (SNHS)
• National English Honor Society (NEHS)
• National Art Honor Society (NAHS)
• Multilingual Society Chapter
• Tri-M Music Honor Society
• National Honor Society for Dance Arts
• International Thespian Society
• California Scholarship Federation (CSF): students apply each semester starting in the second semester of tenth grade

The school also has 9 academic teams coached by faculty that practice regularly and compete.

• Academic Decathlon: competes at the regional and state levels, with strong performers advancing to nationals
• USA Biology Olympiad (USABO): the school's biology olympiad team
• U.S. National Chemistry Olympiad (USNCO): students must have taken or be taking AP Chemistry; the local section exam is taken in March at an off-campus Orange County site, and top students take the national exam in April; the school states that participants must be U.S. citizens or green card holders
• Math olympiad team: competes in Arete Labs' Math Madness online team competition in the fall and the American Mathematics Competitions (AMC) in February; weekly attendance is required
• Mock Trial: competes in the Constitutional Rights Foundation Orange County (CRF-OC) competition, held in November in real courtrooms at the Orange County Central Justice Center; the team is organized through the Law Cohort and open to the whole school
• Model United Nations (MUN): attends conferences across Southern California, at least two per year
• U.S. Physics Olympiad F=ma: the school's physics olympiad team; the school states that participants must be U.S. citizens or green card holders
• VEX Robotics: 4 to 5 teams compete in VEX Robotics Competitions, with state championships in February to March and the World Championship in March to April; a registration fee and weekly attendance are required
• Science Olympiad: a 15-member team competing in 23 events; the Orange County regional is in February, and winning teams advance to the Southern California state tournament in April

This list covers olympiads in all four sciences: mathematics, physics, chemistry, and biology. Note, however, that the math team focuses on the Math Madness team competition, and the only individual contest listed is the American Mathematics Competitions (AMC); the chemistry and physics olympiads are stated to accept only U.S. citizens and permanent residents. Students who aim for the American Invitational Mathematics Examination (AIME) or beyond, and international students who want competition results to demonstrate strength in science, need systematic training outside school.

Signature Programs

• Four Cohort Programs: Business, Engineering, Law, and Medical cohorts; students may join in ninth grade or at the start of tenth grade. The programs include cohort courses, lectures, field trips, and internships, with a program fee of $600. The 2026-2027 School Profile lists 742 participating students: 310 in Business, 192 in Medical, 161 in Engineering, and 79 in Law. Students who remain in the same cohort for three consecutive years, complete 125 internship hours, and maintain a weighted academic GPA of 3.0 or higher receive a Cohort Distinction notation on the transcript and wear a cohort cord at graduation. Cohort courses (such as Honors Marketing, Honors Introduction to Law, Honors Sports Medicine, and the PLTW engineering courses) are open only to students in that cohort, and most are UC-approved honors courses
• AP Capstone: Students take AP Seminar in grade 10 or 11 and then AP Research, completing a 4,000- to 5,000-word research paper and an oral defense. Students who score 3 or higher on both, plus 3 or higher on four other AP exams, earn the AP Capstone Diploma and are recognized at commencement. In 2026, 45 students took the AP Seminar exam with 100% scoring 3 or higher, and 31 students took the AP Research exam with 97% scoring 3 or higher
• Dual Credit (Concordia University Nebraska): The School Profile lists 24 dual credit courses, covering every level of Mandarin, Spanish, and American Sign Language as well as several AP courses. Every level from Mandarin I through AP Chinese may be taken for dual credit
• Visual Arts Conservatory: Students who complete the designated visual arts courses, portfolio, lectures, and field activities while maintaining a weighted academic GPA of 3.0 or higher receive a transcript notation and wear a cord at graduation
• Learning Success Program: Develops school-based education plans for students with learning differences, provides accommodations such as extended testing time, and offers the Learning Success Lab course, with an annual fee of $2,210. Applicants must submit a psychoeducational evaluation from the past three years and school records and take the school's placement testing; admission is limited by available space
• Nine Honor Societies: These include the National Honor Society (NHS), Mu Alpha Theta, the Science National Honor Society (SNHS), the National English Honor Society (NEHS), the National Art Honor Society (NAHS), the Multilingual Society, the Tri-M Music Honor Society, the National Honor Society for Dance Arts, and the International Thespian Society. Applications are due by January 31 each year and are open to students in the second semester of tenth grade and in eleventh grade; academic societies require an unweighted academic GPA of 3.70 or higher and arts societies 3.2 or higher. Members with two or more years of membership receive a transcript notation
• International Student Program: According to the school's history, the International Program began in 2008-09 with a first group of more than 20 students. The International Program director also serves as counselor, providing course selection, graduation progress checks, and college guidance, helping families find host families, and communicating regularly with parents. New international students must attend a two-week summer program before school starts ($1,000, which covers the Cornerstone course and training in Canvas and Naviance) and take Western Culture and Social Dynamics ($2,000; 8 sessions each in fall and spring, held on Friday or Saturday). International students attend classes alongside domestic students and may take honors, AP, and dual credit courses

Choosing a School: Total Tuition, Commute, and Campus Visits

This section answers five questions Irvine families often ask before deciding whether to apply: how much four years will cost, how students get to school from Irvine, which families the school suits, how it differs from similar schools nearby, and what to confirm during a campus visit.

Total Tuition for Four Years

Based on 2026-27 fees, tuition of $23,575 plus the registration fee of $850 comes to $24,425 per year, or $97,700 for four years from grade 9 through grade 12. This figure uses 2026-27 rates, does not include later tuition increases, and does not include the annual FACTS enrollment fee of $25. Other common expenses published by the school include an average of $420 per year for books, $110 per AP course, and $600 per year for a cohort program. International tuition is $40,810 per year and applies for all four years.

Commuting from Irvine

The table below lists straight-line distances from several Irvine neighborhoods with large Chinese American communities to the school (12500 Sand Canyon Avenue, Irvine), calculated by EDUBUS from each neighborhood’s center point and the school address. Actual driving times depend on navigation; families should test the route during school hours on the day of a campus visit.

There is no bus service. The school website provides a carpool directory, which families join by submitting a form to the front office. Classes begin at 7:55 Monday through Thursday and at 8:40 on Friday, and end at 14:35 every day. The campus opens at 7:00 a.m., and most varsity practices run until 17:00.

Which Families the School Suits

Crean Lutheran High School suits three types of families. The first is families who want the student to attend school in Irvine and minimize commuting time; the school is within 2 miles of neighborhoods such as Woodbury and Portola Springs. The second is families whose student has a clear direction and is willing to join the business, engineering, law, or medicine cohort; the 2026-2027 School Profile reports 742 participating students. The third is families whose student can build a solid foundation in mathematics and writing in grade 8: there is no written admission test, but new students start in college-prep courses by default, and honors courses must be earned through the optional placement tests in January and February after admission. The school offers Mandarin through AP Chinese Language and Culture. Theology is required all four years for a total of 4 credits and is not on the UC A-G list; families should confirm before applying that this is acceptable.

Comparison with Similar Schools Nearby

The table below lists nearby private high schools that, like Crean Lutheran High School, serve grades 9 through 12. Tuition is the 2026-27 standard rate for local students, and distance is the straight-line distance between the two school addresses, calculated by EDUBUS.

Both Catholic high schools use the HSPT for admission and set tuition by whether the family is Catholic. Orange Lutheran High School and Crean Lutheran High School both belong to the Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod system and neither requires an entrance exam; Orange Lutheran High School also offers hybrid and fully online enrollment options. The main differences between Crean Lutheran High School and the others are its location in Irvine and its honors placement tests taken after admission.

Questions to Confirm During a Campus Visit

The following points are either not stated clearly on the school website or described differently on different pages. Families should confirm them in person at an open house or during a campus visit.

• Preparation scope for the optional placement tests: mathematics has three separate tests (Geometry, Algebra II/Trigonometry, and Precalculus), and students take tests up to the level they want to enter.
• Average class size: the FAQ states about 19 students, the Academics page states 21:1, and the admissions page states 20:1.
• How dual-credit courses are counted in the UC GPA: the school gives honors weighting to regular courses taken for dual credit, but they remain regular courses on the UC list.
• Application deadline and capacity for cohort programs: the website gives a deadline of March 24 without a year.
• Specific arrangements for non-Christian students in theology courses and the twice-weekly chapel.

How to Use the School’s College Counseling

This section explains what the school’s counseling team provides and when to use each service.

Naviance is a college planning platform used by many American high schools, where students build college lists, complete interest and strengths assessments, and manage recommendation letters. Grade levels and prerequisites for each course appear on Courses and Course Selection, the math sequence appears on Math Pathway, and AP courses and exam results appear on AP Courses and Pass Rates.

Data verified on 2026-09-23. Course catalogs are updated each spring; prerequisites follow the school's current Course of Study.