What the UC Admissions Data Really Says About Monta Vista and Homestead

Families in our district recently received a text message with a chart showing that fewer Monta Vista and Homestead students are being admitted to UC Berkeley and UCLA than in 2010. The message suggests this is a sign that FUHSD schools are declining.

The numbers in that chart come from the University of California's public data, and they are accurate. Monta Vista students received 150 Berkeley and UCLA offers in 2010 and 61 in 2025. Homestead went from 73 to 50.

But the chart looks at two of the nine UC campuses, two of FUHSD's five high schools, and no other schools for comparison. We pulled the complete data set from the UC Office of the President for every campus, every FUHSD high school, and six neighboring high-performing schools in other districts: Gunn and Palo Alto (Palo Alto Unified), Saratoga and Los Gatos (Los Gatos-Saratoga), Mission San Jose (Fremont Unified) and Leland (San Jose Unified). Here is what it shows.

1. Neighboring top schools saw the same drop

Comparing the 2010–17 average with the 2018–25 average, Berkeley and UCLA offers to FUHSD's five high schools fell 29%. Offers to the six peer schools fell 27%. Gunn fell 29%, Saratoga 28% and Mission San Jose 45%. Two FUHSD schools, Cupertino and Fremont, actually gained Berkeley and UCLA offers over the same period.

2. Berkeley and UCLA became far more selective for everyone

In fall 2010, UCLA admitted 23% of its applicants. In fall 2025 it admitted 9.4%. Berkeley went from 21.4% to 11.4%. Both campuses now receive far more applications than they did in 2010, and the UC system has been admitting more students from high schools that historically sent few students to UC.

The charts above show the share of applicants admitted from Monta Vista, Homestead and the peer schools. All three lines rise and fall together. Monta Vista and Homestead students are admitted at about the same rate as students from comparable schools.

3. Across the UC system, FUHSD students are doing well

Looking at all nine UC campuses, the total number of FUHSD students admitted to at least one UC rose 16%, from about 1,184 a year (2010–17) to 1,379 (2018–25). In fall 2025, 91% of Monta Vista applicants were admitted to at least one UC campus, the school's highest rate since 2010. Homestead's rate was 80%.

4. UC data leaves out a third of our graduates

About a third of Monta Vista and Homestead graduates enroll at colleges outside California. According to each school's 2025–26 School Profile, recent graduates have enrolled at MIT, Stanford, Harvard, Cornell, Carnegie Mellon, Johns Hopkins, the University of Michigan and many others. None of those outcomes appear in UC data.

The bottom line

Getting into UC Berkeley and UCLA is harder than it has ever been, for students from every school in California. That is a real concern for families, and it deserves a real conversation about college counseling, course access and support for our students. But the data does not show that FUHSD schools are declining. It shows Monta Vista and Homestead students keeping pace with the strongest schools in the region.

Families deserve to see all of the data, not only part of it. And this data is public.

Sources

- University of California, Admissions by Source School (updated March 12, 2026): https://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/about-uc/information-center/admissions-source-school

- UCLA Undergraduate Profile 2010–11: https://www.ugeducation.ucla.edu/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/Undergraduate-Profile-2010-11.pdf

- UC Berkeley News, fall 2010 admissions: http://news.berkeley.edu/2010/04/14/admissions/

- College Kickstart, UC Fall 2025 Admission Trends: https://www.collegekickstart.com/blog/item/university-of-california-fall-2025-admission-trends

- Monta Vista High School 2025–26 School Profile: https://resources.finalsite.net/images/v1757959553/fuhsdorg/majudqs4jvv41nuedse6/MVHS25-26SchoolProfileFinal.pdf

- Homestead High School School Profiles: https://hhs.fuhsd.org/about-us/accountability/school-profile

Paid for by Rosa Kim for School Board 2026 FPPC#1449892