UCLA vs Stanford: Cost Comparison
For 2026-2027, a California resident living on campus pays $45,500 per year at UCLA and $97,545 at Stanford. That makes UCLA about $52,045 cheaper per year, or $208,180 over four years, before any financial aid is applied.
UCLA total cost
$45,500
Stanford total cost
$97,545
4-year difference
$208,180
Cost breakdown (2026-2027)
| Cost | UCLA | Stanford | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Resident tuition & fees | $16,430 | $70,341 | $53,911 |
| Non-resident tuition & fees | $55,700 | $70,341 | $14,641 |
| Housing & food | $19,867 | $22,944 | $3,077 |
| Total cost of attendance | $45,500 | $97,545 | $52,045 |
Totals are each school's own published cost of attendance for a California resident living on campus, covering 2026-27. Schools budget these differently — Stanford excludes student health insurance from its total, while UCLA includes it, so compare line items rather than headline totals alone.
Four-year cost
Most families care about the degree, not the year. At today's published rates, four years at UCLA runs about $182,000 versus $390,180 at Stanford — a gap of $208,180 in UCLA's favor. Both figures understate the real total, because tuition and housing typically rise each year; treat them as a floor, not a forecast.
Beyond cost
Price is one input. These are the differences that tend to matter just as much once the offers are in hand.
Quarters, like UCLA
Stanford bills tuition per quarter across Autumn, Winter and Spring at $22,577 each, matching UCLA's three-quarter rhythm rather than a semester calendar.
A very small undergraduate body
7,346 undergraduates against 10,775 graduate students in fall 2025. UCLA enrolls roughly four to five times as many undergraduates.
Admission odds an order of magnitude apart
Stanford admitted 3.8% of first-year applicants for fall 2025, admitting 2,302 of 60,646 — against 11.4% at Berkeley and 28–42% at the other UCs here.
Financial aid
Stanford says families earning below $100,000 with typical assets have no expected parent contribution, that families below $150,000 have tuition fully covered for students living on campus, and that it meets need without expecting students to borrow. That is a substantially deeper commitment than Blue and Gold, which covers UC systemwide tuition only.
How UCLA financial aid worksThe verdict
The published gap is $52,045 a year, and it is wider still because Stanford excludes health insurance from its total while UCLA includes it — Cardinal Care runs $2,936 a quarter for students who do not waive.
And yet for many families Stanford is the cheaper school. No parent contribution below $100,000 of income, full tuition covered below $150,000, and no expectation of borrowing is a materially better deal than Blue and Gold, which covers systemwide tuition and stops. Middle-income families in particular often find Stanford's net price lower than a UC's, which is the opposite of what the sticker prices suggest.
The practical constraint is that this comparison rarely arises. Stanford admits 3.8% of applicants; UCLA is a realistic target for far more students. If you hold both offers, ignore these tables entirely and compare the actual aid letters — the answer genuinely varies by family. If you hold only one, the good news is that the financial case for either is defensible.
Estimate your UCLA cost
Published totals assume an average student. Adjust housing, meal plan, and personal spending to see what UCLA would actually cost you.
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Sources
Cost figures for Stanford come from the following published sources.