UCLA vs UCSD: Cost Comparison
For 2026-2027, a California resident living on campus pays $45,500 per year at UCLA and $47,283 at UCSD. That makes UCLA about $1,783 cheaper per year, or $7,132 over four years, before any financial aid is applied.
UCLA total cost
$45,500
UCSD total cost
$47,283
4-year difference
$7,132
Cost breakdown (2026-2027)
| Cost | UCLA | UCSD | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Resident tuition & fees | $16,430 | $18,099 | $1,669 |
| Non-resident tuition & fees | $55,700 | $57,369 | $1,669 |
| Housing & food | $19,867 | $20,742 | $875 |
| Total cost of attendance | $45,500 | $47,283 | $1,783 |
Totals are each school's own published cost of attendance for a California resident living on campus, covering 2026-27. Schools budget these differently — UCSD 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 $189,132 at UCSD — a gap of $7,132 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.
Eight residential colleges
Undergraduates are assigned to one of eight colleges, each with its own general education requirements and residential neighborhood, layered on top of university requirements. UCLA has no equivalent structure.
Quarters, on a coastal campus
UC San Diego runs the same Fall/Winter/Spring quarter calendar as UCLA, but sits in La Jolla rather than an urban neighborhood like Westwood.
Distinct research units
The campus houses Scripps Institution of Oceanography, the Jacobs School of Engineering, and the Herbert Wertheim School of Public Health — concentrations UCLA does not match in the same combination.
Financial aid
UC San Diego offers the same Blue and Gold Opportunity Plan as UCLA, covering systemwide tuition for most California families earning up to $100,000. Its health insurance line is $3,195, roughly $690 below UCLA's, and is waivable with comparable coverage.
How UCLA financial aid worksThe verdict
These two are close enough on cost that price should not decide it. UC San Diego's published total runs about $1,783 a year above UCLA's — around $7,100 over four years, which a single summer of work or a modest housing choice can erase. Tuition is identical; the gap is housing and food.
What actually differs is the shape of the undergraduate experience. UC San Diego's eight-college system gives every student a smaller home base with its own general education requirements, which some students find grounding and others find an arbitrary constraint on their schedule. It is a genuine structural difference, not a marketing distinction, and it is worth reading the individual colleges' requirements before ranking the two.
UC San Diego is also the easier admit, at 28.6% against UCLA's far lower rate, and it is unusually strong in oceanography, engineering, and public health. If you want those fields, or you want the coast, it is an easy call. If you want Westwood, a major-city campus, and a wider spread of humanities and arts, UCLA earns its slight premium.
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 UCSD come from the following published sources.