Santa Cruz Education Profile

The Santa Cruz Area Chamber of Commerce has historically been active in the support of educational progress and expansion. From the beginning, the Chamber claimed the role of being a fundamental backing for educational growth, supporting the development of Cabrillo College in the 1950s and UCSC in the 1960s.
The Chamber understands that education is critical to the health and prosperity of Santa Cruz's economy. Not only does the continued productivity and competitiveness of our businesses and organizations depend on the ability of our workforce to acquire and apply new skills and knowledge, but also, the long-term vitality of the Santa Cruz economy requires the creation of new knowledge, new technology, and new means of application. Establishing and maintaining high quality educational opportunities from all available resources a cornerstone element contributing to the quality of life in the community.
Following this paragraph is the list of the most pressing educational issues in Santa Cruz County. One of the major concerns the Chamber has about local education is the availability of affordable housing for faculty and teachers. Another big point of advocacy for the Chamber is student work experience between the different colleges in the county.
Quality and Competitiveness of K-12 Education
The chamber monitors K-12 public education performance using available statistical measures. With other business groups that advocate for improved achievements by local students. See our Education performance levels page to view a break down of what we found when reviewing Santa Cruz County schools. Please note that we merely picked Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo as our benchmarks based on the fact they are both university beach towns.
Funding of K-12 Education
The Chamber actively advocates for the funding of local public K-12 education, serving both ad hoc funding committees and campaign committees that have successfully passed K-12 funding for local schools.
Access to and Support for Private K-12 Education
The Chamber maintains relationships with local private K-12 education institutions and supports the activities of their students.
Teacher Recruitment and Teacher Housing
The Chamber is an active participant in groups attempting to improve the availability of affordable housing to teachers and staff and especially housing available to newly recruited K-12 faculty members. The Chamber has worked with school districts to encourage public private partnerships to develop such housing.
Cabrillo College Workforce Development Program
The Chamber works with its members to engage with Cabrillo College in the development of programs necessary to meet future employment needs and variety of areas from Business technologies and healthcare to construction and agriculture.
Continuing Education Programs
In addition to the continuing education programs produced by the Chamber it continues to be an active proponent of local education institutions', workforce development, and continuing education programs including: Cabrillo College and Cabrillo extension, UCSC Extension, Santa Cruz County Board of Education Adult Education.
University of California Santa Cruz
UCSC is both a critical component of the economic structure of Santa Cruz County and a critical source of new enterprises and professional employees. Key issues which the chamber continues to advocate include:
Faculty Recruitment
Factors impacting faculty recruitment are of particular interest to the Chamber. These factors include the availability of affordable and appropriate housing to prospective faculty members to maintain the quality of K-12 education in Santa Cruz County.
Technology Development and Transfer
UCSC is also a key source of spinoff technology development and research institutions related to the university. The chamber works with elements of the university to encourage these activities and support their success. The Chamber is also engaged in student entrepreneurship activities.
Long-range Development Planning and Land use
The key elements of future UCSC growth is the adoption and implementation of the university's long-range development plan. The chamber is both an active participant in that planning and, especially, in the plan's implementation through local governments and private investment.
Student Housing
Housing for students is a complex issue in Santa Cruz County. The Chamber is working with the university to encourage on-campus housing as well as working within the community to develop appropriate housing for students.
Student Work Experience Training
The Chamber strongly advocates engaging students' of UCSC and students' of other schools to obtain local work experience and to make the best use of these resources in attracting those students to become part of the Santa Cruz County workforce.
The Chamber understands that education is critical to the health and prosperity of Santa Cruz's economy. Not only does the continued productivity and competitiveness of our businesses and organizations depend on the ability of our workforce to acquire and apply new skills and knowledge, but also, the long-term vitality of the Santa Cruz economy requires the creation of new knowledge, new technology, and new means of application. Establishing and maintaining high quality educational opportunities from all available resources a cornerstone element contributing to the quality of life in the community.
Following this paragraph is the list of the most pressing educational issues in Santa Cruz County. One of the major concerns the Chamber has about local education is the availability of affordable housing for faculty and teachers. Another big point of advocacy for the Chamber is student work experience between the different colleges in the county.
Quality and Competitiveness of K-12 Education
The chamber monitors K-12 public education performance using available statistical measures. With other business groups that advocate for improved achievements by local students. See our Education performance levels page to view a break down of what we found when reviewing Santa Cruz County schools. Please note that we merely picked Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo as our benchmarks based on the fact they are both university beach towns.
Funding of K-12 Education
The Chamber actively advocates for the funding of local public K-12 education, serving both ad hoc funding committees and campaign committees that have successfully passed K-12 funding for local schools.
Access to and Support for Private K-12 Education
The Chamber maintains relationships with local private K-12 education institutions and supports the activities of their students.
Teacher Recruitment and Teacher Housing
The Chamber is an active participant in groups attempting to improve the availability of affordable housing to teachers and staff and especially housing available to newly recruited K-12 faculty members. The Chamber has worked with school districts to encourage public private partnerships to develop such housing.
Cabrillo College Workforce Development Program
The Chamber works with its members to engage with Cabrillo College in the development of programs necessary to meet future employment needs and variety of areas from Business technologies and healthcare to construction and agriculture.
Continuing Education Programs
In addition to the continuing education programs produced by the Chamber it continues to be an active proponent of local education institutions', workforce development, and continuing education programs including: Cabrillo College and Cabrillo extension, UCSC Extension, Santa Cruz County Board of Education Adult Education.
University of California Santa Cruz
UCSC is both a critical component of the economic structure of Santa Cruz County and a critical source of new enterprises and professional employees. Key issues which the chamber continues to advocate include:
Faculty Recruitment
Factors impacting faculty recruitment are of particular interest to the Chamber. These factors include the availability of affordable and appropriate housing to prospective faculty members to maintain the quality of K-12 education in Santa Cruz County.
Technology Development and Transfer
UCSC is also a key source of spinoff technology development and research institutions related to the university. The chamber works with elements of the university to encourage these activities and support their success. The Chamber is also engaged in student entrepreneurship activities.
Long-range Development Planning and Land use
The key elements of future UCSC growth is the adoption and implementation of the university's long-range development plan. The chamber is both an active participant in that planning and, especially, in the plan's implementation through local governments and private investment.
Student Housing
Housing for students is a complex issue in Santa Cruz County. The Chamber is working with the university to encourage on-campus housing as well as working within the community to develop appropriate housing for students.
Student Work Experience Training
The Chamber strongly advocates engaging students' of UCSC and students' of other schools to obtain local work experience and to make the best use of these resources in attracting those students to become part of the Santa Cruz County workforce.
Education Resources:
Santa Cruz County Office of Education
The Santa Cruz County Office of Education is a public agency who provides educational leadership, resources, and services to maintain equal and quality educational opportunities for all students. At the top of the page you will see several boundary maps for the different school districts located within Santa Cruz County. You may view overall student performance by county, district, and school on the Ed Data website provided by the Office of Education. You may learn more about the specific duties of the the office at their website, which is provided.
Public, Private, & Alternate Schools
We have provided a list, updated as of 3 March 2017, of all the different schools within Santa Cruz County. The list includes public, charter, and private schools in the area along with former schools that have ceased operation.
Schools for Adults & Continuing students:
Cabrillo College
Cabrillo College was founded in 1959 with a starting freshman class of 400 students. Cabrillo is a 2 year college with a Honors program that allows you to obtain your Associates degree and then transfer to a four year university to obtain your bachelor's degree. They have roughly ten thousand students attending their school.
University of California, Santa Cruz
UC Santa Cruz is one of the nine undergraduate University of California institutes. They are one of the foremost international research universities that provides a large selection of undergraduate degrees along with a range of graduate and doctoral level degrees. UCSC is one of the largest local employers and is home to over seventeen thousand students.
California State University Monterey Bay
CSU Monterey Bay began instruction in 1994 after the government decommissioned the Fort Ord military base. They are a four year university that offers 25 undergraduate majors along with 7 graduate level programs.
The Santa Cruz County Office of Education is a public agency who provides educational leadership, resources, and services to maintain equal and quality educational opportunities for all students. At the top of the page you will see several boundary maps for the different school districts located within Santa Cruz County. You may view overall student performance by county, district, and school on the Ed Data website provided by the Office of Education. You may learn more about the specific duties of the the office at their website, which is provided.
Public, Private, & Alternate Schools
We have provided a list, updated as of 3 March 2017, of all the different schools within Santa Cruz County. The list includes public, charter, and private schools in the area along with former schools that have ceased operation.
Schools for Adults & Continuing students:
Cabrillo College
Cabrillo College was founded in 1959 with a starting freshman class of 400 students. Cabrillo is a 2 year college with a Honors program that allows you to obtain your Associates degree and then transfer to a four year university to obtain your bachelor's degree. They have roughly ten thousand students attending their school.
University of California, Santa Cruz
UC Santa Cruz is one of the nine undergraduate University of California institutes. They are one of the foremost international research universities that provides a large selection of undergraduate degrees along with a range of graduate and doctoral level degrees. UCSC is one of the largest local employers and is home to over seventeen thousand students.
California State University Monterey Bay
CSU Monterey Bay began instruction in 1994 after the government decommissioned the Fort Ord military base. They are a four year university that offers 25 undergraduate majors along with 7 graduate level programs.
Santa Cruz County Education Data
All of the data and graphs listed below come from the sources mentioned above. These are just snapshots of information that can be followed up through the aforementioned sources. The Santa Cruz County Office of Education in particular, has a myriad of additional data pertaining to public K-12 education.
Click on the thumbnails below to learn more.
Click on the thumbnails below to learn more.