UCLA Tuition 2002-2003
UC systemwide tuition for California residents was $3,834 for the 2002-2003 academic year. Non-residents paid $16,213 including Nonresident Supplemental Tuition. Campus-based fees averaged $453 across UC.
Resident Tuition
$3,834
Non-Resident Tuition
$16,213
Campus Fees (UC average)
$453
Year-over-year change: Resident tuition changed by +11.8%. Non-resident tuition changed by +11.79%.
What changed in 2002-2003
A mid-year hike ends an eight-year fee freeze
For most of the previous decade UC fees had been flat or falling. As UC's budget office later put it, this increase came after seven consecutive years without increases in mandatory systemwide student fees, and in fact two years in which undergraduate fees were reduced by a total of 10 percent. That ended in the middle of the year.
Facing Governor Gray Davis's mid-year cuts, which took $74 million from UC in the current fiscal year and included a $19 million unallocated reduction to be addressed through student fee increases, the Regents held a special teleconference meeting on December 16, 2002 and voted 11-4 to raise the Educational Fee by $135 per student for the spring 2003 term. The Regents described that as an average 3.7 percent increase in total mandatory systemwide fees, equivalent to one-third of an 11.2 percent annual increase of $405 — and future increases would be calculated from a base including the full $405. The University Registration Fee stayed at $713. Annualized, systemwide resident undergraduate fees went from $3,429 to $3,834.
2002-2003 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 $3,834 a California resident paid in 2002-2003 is equivalent to $6,861 in 2025 dollars. Non-resident tuition of $16,213 works out to $29,014 in 2025 dollars.
Resident tuition in 2025 dollars
$6,861
Non-resident tuition in 2025 dollars
$29,014
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 $14/day of instruction, or $256/class (assuming 15 classes per year).
At California's $6.75/hr minimum wage back then, covering tuition alone would take 568 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 2002-2003 are drawn from the following sources.
- Regents Board minutes, Dec. 16, 2002 (11-4 vote, fee terms)(opens in a new tab)
- Regents Committee on Finance minutes, Dec. 16, 2002(opens in a new tab)
- Daily Bruin: Regents vote 11-4 to raise student fees (Dec. 16, 2002)(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)