UCLA Tuition 2020-2021
UC systemwide tuition for California residents was $12,570 for the 2020-2021 academic year. Non-residents paid $42,324 including Nonresident Supplemental Tuition. Campus-based fees averaged $1,507 across UC.
Resident Tuition
$12,570
Non-Resident Tuition
$42,324
Campus Fees (UC average)
$1,507
What changed in 2020-2021
A full year online at the full price
Every headline number stood still. Resident tuition remained $12,570 and Nonresident Supplemental Tuition remained $29,754 — a rare year in which neither moved at all. What changed was that UCLA delivered almost the entire year remotely while charging the same rates it had set for in-person instruction.
Federal relief did flow, but to institutions and to emergency student grants rather than to across-the-board tuition reductions, through the CARES Act and its successors. UC's position throughout was that instruction continued and that credit toward a degree was still being earned, so tuition was not reduced. Students pressed for transparency instead of refunds, with a USAC commissioner requesting a report showing how tuition had been spent in spring 2020 versus spring 2019.
The frozen sticker price also masks what the freeze cost. Resident tuition had by then sat at $11,442 since 2017-18, and campus-based fees were the part of the bill still quietly rising, averaging $1,507 across UC — up from $1,386 three years earlier.
2020-2021 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 $12,570 a California resident paid in 2020-2021 is equivalent to $15,636 in 2025 dollars. Non-resident tuition of $42,324 works out to $52,648 in 2025 dollars.
Resident tuition in 2025 dollars
$15,636
Non-resident tuition in 2025 dollars
$52,648
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 $47/day of instruction, or $838/class (assuming 15 classes per year).
At California's $13.00/hr minimum wage back then, covering tuition alone would take 967 hours of work (~24 full-time weeks) — before housing and food.
Quick Facts
Resident Tuition
vs. 5 years earlier (2015-2016)
+$330
Resident tuition rose 2.7% from $12,240 to $12,570
vs. 10 years earlier (2010-2011)
+$2,268
Resident tuition rose 22.02% from $10,302 to $12,570
Non-Resident Tuition
vs. 5 years earlier (2015-2016)
+$5,376
Non-resident tuition rose 14.55% from $36,948 to $42,324
vs. 10 years earlier (2010-2011)
+$9,143
Non-resident tuition rose 27.55% from $33,181 to $42,324
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 2020-2021 are drawn from the following sources.
- Daily Bruin: UC needs to be more transparent about tuition and fees during pandemic (June 10, 2020)(opens in a new tab)
- U.S. Dept. of Education: Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund(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)