Fairmont Preparatory Academy

Overview

Fairmont Preparatory Academy is an independent, non-sectarian high private school in Anaheim, California, serving grades 9-12, founded in 1994, with about 573 students. Tuition for 2026-27 is $34,435, which puts it in the upper range among Orange County private schools at this level. The school offers 31 AP courses. Mandarin is offered, and students can continue through AP Chinese. The school accepts F-1 international students and issues the I-20 needed for a student visa. Bus service is available, covering Anaheim Hills, Irvine, Santa Ana, Diamond Bar, Costa Mesa, Newport Beach.

Admissions

No entrance exam is required.

The school publishes the following application details. Applications are accepted on a rolling basis year-round, and the school website does not list a fixed deadline. The process: submit an inquiry form; an admissions representative arranges a student interview and a campus tour (a Shadow Day, spending a day in class, can also be scheduled); the director of admissions sends the application form; submit two years of transcripts, one standardized test score from within the past two years, and recommendation letters from an English teacher and a math teacher; an on-campus interview (the school website FAQ states that the interview is a required step); review; after admission, sign and return the enrollment contract, and the student can start within 1-2 days of signing. The school website FAQs page states that no formal entrance exam is required. International students follow the International admissions process: an online interview plus the required iTEP-SLATE English test (TOEFL Junior, TOEFL, IELTS or Duolingo may be submitted as optional supplements), along with a copy of the passport; if a visa is denied, a refund may be requested with the official denial letter. Payment of 2026-27 tuition in full is due by July 1, 2026; financial aid applications open March 1 through FAST.

For schools whose main entry point is grade 9, the target list should be settled before the fall of grade 8: attend open houses and shadow days in the fall, submit applications and sit the entrance test between November and January, and expect decisions in March. The summer after grade 7 is a realistic time to start ISEE or HSPT preparation.

Tuition and fees

2026-27 school year, domestic students: $34,435 paid in full, $35,375 in two payments, or $35,500 paid monthly (school website, Prep Tuition fees page). Specialty programs carry additional fees (see the fee detail). F-1 international students in grades 9-12: $55,900, with a $5,000 enrollment deposit (school website, 2026-27 F-1 international student fee schedule PDF).

Enrollment deposit $1,750; new student application and assessment fee $150, registration fee $500, graduation fee $650 (one time in grade 12); $500 off for each additional child (school website, Tuition fees page). Specialty program fees: Advanced Science and Engineering Program $3,200 per year. The school website gives three different figures for the business program: the Tuition fees page lists Advanced Business Program $3,200, the 2026-27 F-1 fee schedule lists International Business Program $3,200, and the FAQs page lists International Business Program (IBP) $2,700 per year, so confirm with the school before enrolling. Uniforms (Land’s End), a student-provided laptop or iPad, NIBLL lunch (about $200 per month), CIF team sports charged by season and by sport, and activity fees for travel week, speech and debate, robotics and similar programs are all additional. Bus fees, as listed on the F-1 fee schedule, are $2,550 one way and $4,950 round trip per year. F-1 international tuition for grades 9-12 is $55,900 with a $5,000 enrollment deposit, plus a $500 registration fee, a $1,650 new student orientation fee and $3,600 for student medical insurance; Fairmont Homestay for grades 6-12 is $35,500 for ten months, plus a $1,200 application fee and a $600 deposit; non-Fairmont housing is $2,000; students living with their parents pay $2,000, which is refunded after verification.

Financial aid: Need is assessed through FAST (Financial Aid for School Tuition). Applications open March 1 each year and are reviewed first come, first served, with awards made on a rolling basis. The application fee is $53 and is nonrefundable, and families must upload 2024 federal and state tax returns along with proof of household income. The school website states that funds are limited and does not publish the share of students receiving aid or the average award (school website, Prep Tuition fees page).

Academics and programs

• AP: counted by course number, the 2026-27 course catalog lists 31 AP courses, including AP Capstone (AP Seminar and AP Research), AP Chinese Language and Culture, AP Cybersecurity, AP Computer Science A and Principles, AP Physics C Mechanics and Electricity and Magnetism, AP Calculus BC, and AP 2D/3D Art and Design (school website, Downloads page, CourseCatalog_2026-2027_FINAL.pdf)
• IB: none of Prep’s own pages on the school website (Why choose us, Private High School, Tuition fees, College counseling, FAQs, International admissions) contain the words International Baccalaureate, and the course-number listing in the 2026-27 course catalog contains no IB subjects; the letters IB survive only in three pieces of descriptive text. However, the Why choose us pages of the North Tustin and San Juan Capistrano K-8 campuses describe Prep as offering “AP, International Baccalaureate (IB) courses” - the school website contradicts itself, so confirm with the school before enrolling (school website, Prep course catalog PDF, and the North Tustin and San Juan Capistrano Why choose us pages)
• Advanced Science & Engineering Program (ASEP, founded in 2004, formerly the Medical Magnet), with college-level labs and problem-based learning; the school website reports an average GPA of 4.63 and an average SAT of 1402 for ASEP students (school website, Why choose us page and STEM Programs page)
• Advanced Business Program (ABP, founded in 2014), with tracks in finance, marketing and international business; the school website reports an average GPA of 4.36 and an average SAT of 1284 for ABP students (school website, Why choose us page)
• Visual & Performing Arts Program; the Speech & Debate team competes in more than 25 tournaments a year and has more than 100 active members, and the school website states that it has long ranked in the top ten in NSDA Public Forum (school website, Speech and debate page)
• World languages: Spanish, Chinese (starting at the beginner level, with AP Chinese Language and Culture available in grades 11-12) and American Sign Language, all UC-approved courses (school website, Prep Multilingualism page and course catalog)

How this school compares

These are the nearest schools at the same level and a comparable price. Select a name to open that school’s admissions guide:

School	City	Grades	Tuition	Entrance test	Class size	Distance
Fairmont Preparatory Academy	Anaheim	9-12	$34,435	None	—	—
Servite High School	Anaheim	9-12	$20,710	HSPT	—	0.3 mi
Rosary Academy	Fullerton	9-12	$21,990	HSPT	17	4.6 mi
Whittier Christian High School	La Habra	9-12	$19,193	On-campus assessment	—	6.3 mi
Orange Lutheran High School (Lutheran High School of Orange County)	Orange	9-12	$20,800	None	—	7.6 mi

Where graduates go

From the school website’s College preparation & counseling page: 96% of students who applied to a top 100 university were admitted, 79% of UC applicants were admitted, students averaged 4.75 offers of admission, and they earned $5.2M+ in renewable scholarships (the school website does not identify the graduating class). The Private High School page gives a different figure: 98% of students in the top three quartiles by grades were admitted to a top 100 university. Colleges listed on the school website include Harvard, Yale, Stanford, MIT, UCLA, NYU and USC.

For college applications from this school, EDUBUS can begin with course selection in grade 9.

Total tuition through graduation

At the 2026-27 rate of $34,435, 4 years covering grades 9-12 come to roughly $137,740 in tuition alone. Assuming the 4% annual increase common at private schools, the figure is closer to $146,000. Neither number includes registration fees, deposits, uniforms or activity fees. A California 529 plan can cover up to $10,000 per child per year of K-12 tuition.

Getting there from Irvine

These are straight-line distances from neighborhoods where many Irvine families live. Actual drive times will be longer, and a morning rush-hour trip typically takes 1.5 to 2 times as long as an off-peak one:

Neighborhood	Straight-line distance
Woodbury	16.0 miles
Northwood	13.0 miles
Turtle Rock	16.7 miles
Portola Springs	17.5 miles

The school runs bus service, covering Anaheim Hills, Irvine, Santa Ana, Diamond Bar, Costa Mesa, Newport Beach.

Questions to ask on a campus visit

• Average class size — no page on the school website and no part of the course catalog publishes class sizes or a student-teacher ratio (the 85:1 student-to-college-counselor ratio is a different measure)
• Enrollment — the school website does not report its own enrollment, so this page uses the California Department of Education 2025-26 filing of 573. NCES PSS has only a single combined record for the Fairmont syst…
• IB — neither Prep’s pages on the school website nor the course listing in the 2026-27 course catalog includes any IB course, but the pages for the North Tustin and San Juan Capistrano K-8 campuses state t…
• Founding year — the timeline on Prep’s own Why choose us page gives 1994 as the founding year, while the timelines on the Anaheim Hills and Historic Anaheim K-8 campus pages both say Prep opened in 1993. This record…
• Registration, technology, uniform and activity fees beyond tuition

How EDUBUS helps

Our Irvine-based counselors work in both Chinese and English. We track Fairmont Preparatory Academy’s admissions calendar, prepare students for the campus visit and interview, and review application materials before they are submitted. Book a school-selection consultation or read the Chinese version of this page.