UCLA Tuition 2004-2005
UC systemwide tuition for California residents was $5,684 for the 2004-2005 academic year. Non-residents paid $22,640 including Nonresident Supplemental Tuition. Campus-based fees averaged $628 across UC.
Resident Tuition
$5,684
Non-Resident Tuition
$22,640
Campus Fees (UC average)
$628
Year-over-year change: Resident tuition changed by +14%. Non-resident tuition changed by +17.95%.
What changed in 2004-2005
A 14% increase, and a new deal with the governor
The 2004-05 increase was 14 percent, or $700, taking systemwide resident undergraduate fees from $4,984 to $5,684. Again the Registration Fee held at $713 and the whole increase went into the Educational Fee. The vote was unusually contentious: on May 19, 2004 the Finance Committee deadlocked 5-5 and the motion failed, so the committee chair took it to the full Board, which approved it 14-2 the next day.
The number was a negotiated one. Governor Schwarzenegger's January budget had proposed 10 percent for undergraduates and 40 percent for graduate academic students; UC objected, and the resulting three-year plan raised undergraduates to 14 percent in order to hold graduate students to 20 percent. That plan was folded into the Higher Education Compact announced in mid-May 2004, which set undergraduate increases of 8 percent in each of the following two years. It was UC's fourth consecutive year of base budget cuts.
The Regents' own minutes record that $16 million in grant aid previously going to families earning $60,000-$90,000 was shifted to lower-income students.
2004-2005 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 $5,684 a California resident paid in 2004-2005 is equivalent to $9,687 in 2025 dollars. Non-resident tuition of $22,640 works out to $38,585 in 2025 dollars.
Resident tuition in 2025 dollars
$9,687
Non-resident tuition in 2025 dollars
$38,585
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 $21/day of instruction, or $379/class (assuming 15 classes per year).
At California's $6.75/hr minimum wage back then, covering tuition alone would take 842 hours of work (~21 full-time weeks) — before housing and food.
Quick Facts
Resident Tuition
vs. 5 years earlier (1999-2000)
+$2,255
Resident tuition rose 65.76% from $3,429 to $5,684
Non-Resident Tuition
vs. 5 years earlier (1999-2000)
+$9,037
Non-resident tuition rose 66.43% from $13,603 to $22,640
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 2004-2005 are drawn from the following sources.
- Regents Board minutes, May 20, 2004 (14-2 vote)(opens in a new tab)
- Regents Committee on Finance minutes, May 19, 2004 (14%, 5-5 tie)(opens in a new tab)
- LAO handout on the Higher Education Compact (June 1, 2004)(opens in a new tab)
- Daily Bruin: Hike in UC fees ok'd (May 20, 2004)(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)