2025 Compare Cities Education:
Lake Forest, CA vs Santa Cruz, CA

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Highlights
- Santa Cruz spends 7.1% more per student than Lake Forest.
- The Student Teacher Ratio is 5.9% lower in Santa Cruz than in Lake Forest. (lower means fewer students in each classroom).
- Santa Cruz had 2.9% more residents who had graduated High School compared to Lake Forest
 Lake Forest, CASanta Cruz, CAUnited States
 Expend. per Student  Unlock$16,364$15,905
 Educ. Expend. per Student$12,911  Unlock$13,142
 Instr. Expend. per Student  Unlock$7,688$7,999
 Pupil/Teacher Ratio23.21  Unlock16.23
 Students per Librarian  Unlock62714573
 Students per Counselor595  Unlock530
 Grade School Educ.  Unlock2.3%4.8%
 Some High School Educ.3.6%  Unlock6.3%
 High School Educ.  Unlock95.7%88.9%
 Some College Educ.20.5%  Unlock20.0%
 2 yr College Grad.  Unlock8.1%8.7%
 4 yr College Grad.48.7%  Unlock33.7%
 Masters Grad.  Unlock18.0%9.3%
 Professional Degree2.7%  Unlock2.2%
 Doctorate Degree  Unlock5.5%1.5%
Reviews for Lake Forest    16 Reviews

I've lived in Lake Forest for over a decade, before that elsewhere in OC and also up in LA. Lake Forest isn't perfect but it's really improved over the past decade,  More

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As a retired senior who has lived in Lake Forest (formerly El Toro) since 1977 I think LF is a great place if you can afford it. When we moved here in June '77 homes  More

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I’ve lived here for 2 years. Ok, it’s more like a 4 but there are so many idiots downplaying what it’s like here and giving Lake Forest ones and twos. There are a lot of  More

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Reviews for Santa Cruz    44 Reviews

I lived in the Santa Cruz area for 20 years. UCSC alum. Our kids were born there. There are wonderful things about Santa Cruz, but also many serious problems that we  More

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Over 5 years ago

I have been here for four generations! My kids are the fifth. I guess that should tell you how wonderful it is here, at least for us. It's so cool to have world class  More

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I was born over the hill in San Jose area, and as a kid I loved coming over to the boardwalk. Santa Cruz has always been and always will be a town of diversity,  More

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