UCLA Tuition 2001-2002
UC systemwide tuition for California residents was $3,429 for the 2001-2002 academic year. Non-residents paid $14,503 including Nonresident Supplemental Tuition. Campus-based fees averaged $430 across UC.
Resident Tuition
$3,429
Non-Resident Tuition
$14,503
Campus Fees (UC average)
$430
Year-over-year change: Resident tuition changed by 0%. Non-resident tuition changed by +3.28%.
What changed in 2001-2002
The last flat year before the crash
Resident undergraduate fees stayed at $3,429 for a third consecutive year. The state budget signed that summer dropped 1.7 percent overall, yet still included funding specifically to ensure resident student fees did not increase — the last time that particular bargain held. Within eighteen months the dot-com bust would work through California's revenue base, and the Regents would raise fees in the middle of an academic year for the first time in this period.
Nonresidents again paid for the calm. Their supplemental tuition rose 4.5 percent to $10,704, continuing an unbroken run of increases stretching back to 1996-97. One quirk of the contemporaneous reporting is worth noting for anyone checking these figures: a July 2001 Daily Bruin article stated that in-state fees had "not increased since 1994," which conflicts with the paper's own 1998 reporting that they had actually been cut. The underlying UC records are unambiguous — fees fell in 1998-99 and again in 1999-00, then held flat through 2001-02. Average campus-based fees, however, dipped to $430.
2001-2002 tuition in 2025 dollars
Comparing tuition across decades only works once inflation is stripped out. Adjusted with the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Consumer Price Index, the $3,429 a California resident paid in 2001-2002 is equivalent to $6,233 in 2025 dollars. Non-resident tuition of $14,503 works out to $26,364 in 2025 dollars.
Resident tuition in 2025 dollars
$6,233
Non-resident tuition in 2025 dollars
$26,364
Inflation adjustment uses CPI-U annual average, U.S. city average, all items (1982-84=100). The 2025 annual average is computed from eleven months because the October 2025 index was never collected during the federal funding lapse.
What does that mean? UCLA tuition worked out to roughly $13/day of instruction, or $229/class (assuming 15 classes per year).
At California's $6.25/hr minimum wage back then, covering tuition alone would take 549 hours of work (~14 full-time weeks) — before housing and food.
Looking for Current UCLA Costs?
UCLA tuition for 2026-2027 is now $16,430 for California residents. Use our interactive Cost Calculator to estimate your total cost of attendance — including housing, meal plans, books, and more.
Sources
Figures and historical context for 2001-2002 are drawn from the following sources.
- Daily Bruin: Despite slowdown, UC budget fares well (July 29, 2001)(opens in a new tab)
- Daily Bruin: Tuition for out-of-state students rises (July 22, 2001)(opens in a new tab)
- UCOP Historical Fee Levels, Tables 1-3(opens in a new tab)
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, CPI-U annual averages (CUUR0000SA0)(opens in a new tab)
- California Department of Industrial Relations, History of California Minimum Wage(opens in a new tab)