Anaheim Union High^↗ET School District graduated 94.4% of its students in 2025. That rate, achieved with a cohort of 4,846 students, places Anaheim second among California districts with 4,000 or more students -- behind only Corona-Norco Unified at 95.9%.

The number is more impressive because of the trajectory behind it: 86.8% in 2018, 88.7% in 2019, 92.6% in 2022, 93.4% in 2024, and 94.4% in 2025. Every reported data point is higher than the last: four straight reported gains totaling 7.6 percentage points.

The Demographics

Anaheim Union High's headline rate is not the result of a tiny or unusually low-need cohort. In the 2025 graduation cohort, Hispanic students accounted for 3,356 of 4,846 students, or 69.3%. English learners accounted for 1,247 students, and low-income students accounted for 4,361 students, or 90.0% of the cohort.

The 2025 subgroup breakdown shows broad success:

• Hispanic students graduated at 94.2%.
• English learners graduated at 89.3%, above the state English learner average of 79.7%.
• Low-income students graduated at 94.4%, matching the districtwide rate.
• Special education students graduated at 80.0%, above the state special education average of 77.1%.

Among Peers

In Orange County, Anaheim Union High's 7.6-point gain from 2018 to 2025 was larger than the gains in the selected peer districts shown below. Garden Grove Unified^↗ET gained 1.8 points, Santa Ana Unified^↗ET gained 3.3 points, and Fullerton Joint Union High^↗ET was 0.5 points lower than its 2018 rate.

Among all California districts with 2025 graduating cohorts of 4,000 or more students, Anaheim ranks second at 94.4%. Only Corona-Norco Unified at 95.9% is higher. The list includes districts like Sweetwater Union High (91.5%), San Diego Unified (90.3%), and Fresno Unified (90.8%). LAUSD, the state's largest, is at 86.5%.

What Changed

The data shows the improvement but not the cause. The graduation files cannot isolate which district policies, school practices, student supports, or community factors explain the increase.

What the data can confirm is that the reported gains were consistent across all five available reporting points, including the post-COVID years, and reached a 2025 cohort of 4,846 students.

Among the 15 California districts with 2025 cohorts of at least 4,000 students and complete data across these five reporting points, Anaheim was the only one with both a four-step improvement streak and a 2025 graduation rate above 94%. The improvement was not a single-year anomaly or a post-pandemic bounce. It was sustained.

Anaheim Union High School District did not respond to a request for comment.

Detailed code that reproduces the analysis and figures in this article is available exclusively to EdTribune subscribers.