UCLA vs UC Davis: Cost Comparison
For 2026-2027, a California resident living on campus pays $45,500 per year at UCLA and $49,009 at UC Davis. That makes UCLA about $3,509 cheaper per year, or $14,036 over four years, before any financial aid is applied.
UCLA total cost
$45,500
UC Davis total cost
$49,009
4-year difference
$14,036
Cost breakdown (2026-2027)
| Cost | UCLA | UC Davis | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Resident tuition & fees | $16,430 | $18,078 | $1,648 |
| Non-resident tuition & fees | $55,700 | $57,348 | $1,648 |
| Housing & food | $19,867 | $22,252 | $2,385 |
| Total cost of attendance | $45,500 | $49,009 | $3,509 |
Totals are each school's own published cost of attendance for a California resident living on campus, covering 2026-27. Schools budget these differently — UC Davis includes student health insurance in its total, as UCLA does, 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 $196,036 at UC Davis — a gap of $14,036 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.
Programs UCLA does not have
UC Davis operates a School of Veterinary Medicine and a College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, alongside the Robert Mondavi Institute for Wine and Food Science and the Bodega Marine Laboratory.
A college town, not a metro campus
The campus sits in Davis, about 15 miles west of Sacramento, rather than in a major-city neighborhood. Its budgeted on-campus room and board is still $2,385 above UCLA's.
The least selective school in this comparison
UC Davis admitted 42% of first-year applicants in fall 2024, the highest rate of the seven schools compared here, and it is the largest UC by total student population.
Financial aid
UC Davis participates in the same Blue and Gold Opportunity Plan as UCLA, covering systemwide tuition for most California families earning up to $100,000. Its published total is about $3,509 above UCLA's, driven mainly by room and board, so an identical tuition-covering grant leaves a larger remaining balance at Davis.
How UCLA financial aid worksThe verdict
UC Davis costs roughly $3,509 a year more than UCLA — about $14,000 over four years — with identical tuition and the difference sitting almost entirely in housing and food. For a campus in a small college town rather than west Los Angeles, that is a genuinely counterintuitive result, and it is worth checking against your own housing plans rather than accepting the published budget.
The case for Davis is programmatic and it is strong in specific fields. If you want veterinary medicine, agricultural or environmental science, food science, or viticulture, Davis is the better school outright and the cost difference should not enter into it. UCLA cannot match those programs.
If you want something Davis and UCLA both offer, UCLA is cheaper, closer to a major job market, and considerably harder to get into. Davis's 42% admit rate also means it is a realistic option for many students for whom UCLA is not, which in practice makes this less a choice between two offers than a question of which offer arrives.
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 UC Davis come from the following published sources.