Former High Schools

In Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc, it is stipulated that to be considered for recruitment to Hope's Peak Academy, a student must already be attending high school. This rule also carried over to Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair, and to the Ultimate Academy for Gifted Juveniles featured in Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony. Although the students' former schools are never mentioned by name in-game, the schools were revealed in the games' associated art-books, and school emblems can be seen incorporated into most characters' designs.

Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc
＊ The following school names were translated by, based on 1.2 Reload artbook scans.

Trivia

 * Leon's school, LL Academy, seems to be a combination of and the the  real-world  highschool of his namesake -  professional baseball player   - who attended PL High School.
 * Chihiro's school, St. Elbandia Academy, is a reference to (エルヴァンディア ストーリー Erubandia Sutōrī) which was also published by Spike.
 * Kiyotaka's school, Kaiseidan High School (開成灘高校), is a reference to two real-world schools that are two of Japan's top academic schools: 開成高校 (Kaisei Koukou) and 灘高校 (Nada Koukou). The Kanji 開成 (Kaisei) and 灘 (Nada) are combined to make 開成灘 (Kaiseidan).
 * Byakuya's school, Green Hills High School, is a reference to the, the most first, and most famous, level in the video game franchise.
 * Toko's school, 川端女子高校 (Kawabata Joshi Kōtō), is likely a reference to Japanese novelist, who was the first Japanese person to win the Nobel Prize for Literature. As 女子 is Japanese for "Girl", this would refer to Toko, a female novelist, as a "Girl Kawabata".
 * Aoi's school, Asunaro High School, is likely a reference to the conifer, known as Asunaro in Japan.
 * Junko's school, Gunma Prefectural Shibutani High School, is a reference to real-world school Gunma Prefectural Chuo Secondary School which gained national attention for its specialization in English language immersion.

Danganronpa 2
＊ The following school names were translated by, based on 1.2 Reload artbook scans.

Danganronpa V3
＊ The following school names were translated by, based on Danganronpa V3 bonus gallery concert art profiles.

Trivia

 * Kaede's school, 光星国際アカデミー (Shining Star International High School) is a reference to the real-world high school Shiritsu Seisa Kokusai High School (星槎国際高等学校).
 * The school symbol for Shiritsu is also incredibly similar to Kaede's school's symbol.
 * K1-B0's school 光星国際アカデミー (Iidabashi Industries High School) is named after his creator Professor Idabashi, and most likely is not a true high school.
 * Kokichi's school 帝都大帝都高校 (Imperial Capital's Imperial High School) name is inspired by the word "imperial", which means "relating to an empire", which is a clear reference to Kokichi's talent Ultimate Supreme Leader.
 * Tsumugi's school 百合薔薇女子学園 (Lily Rose Girl's Academy) is most likely named after the Japanese terms Yuri (百合), a genre of fiction of love between women, and Bara (薔薇), a genre of fiction of love between men.
 * Korekiyo's school 夕陽ヶ丘学園 (Sunset Hill High School) is possibly a reference to the real-world high school Ōsakayūhigaoka Gakuen High School (大阪夕陽丘学園高等学校).


 * Kirumi's school 天ノ川高校 (Milky Way High School) is a direct reference to the fictional high school Amanogawa High School from the Japanese drama TV series Kamen Rider Fourze.
 * Maki's school 勇心館高校 (Brave Heart Hall High School) is possibly a reference to the song Brave Heart from the Japanese anime Digimon Adventure.
 * It's made more apparent as there is a character named Maki Himekawa (姫川 マキ Himekawa Maki) in one of the Digimon series.
 * Ryoma's school 霞ヶ丘高校 (Fog Heights High School) is possibly inspired by the real-world school Fukuoka Kenritsu Kasumigaoka High School (福岡県立香住丘高等学校 ).
 * Kaito's school 怒首領蜂商業高校 (Dodonpachi Commercial High) is a reference to the Japanese shooter game  (怒首領蜂).
 * His school's symbol also reflects this reference, as DoDonPachi translates into "Angry Leader Bee".