UCLA Tuition 2025-2026
UC systemwide tuition for California residents was $14,934 for the 2025-2026 academic year. Non-residents paid $52,536 including Nonresident Supplemental Tuition. Campus-based fees averaged $1,764 across UC.
Resident Tuition
$14,934
Non-Resident Tuition
$52,536
Campus Fees (UC average)
$1,764
Year-over-year change: Resident tuition changed by +3.45%. Non-resident tuition changed by +8.02%.
What changed in 2025-2026
Regents renew cohort tuition at a meeting on campus
Students entering in fall 2025 pay $13,602 in tuition plus a $1,332 Student Services Fee — $14,934 in mandatory systemwide charges — locked for up to six years. Nonresident Supplemental Tuition reached $37,602, the 9.9 percent increase the Regents approved the previous November, pushing a new nonresident's total systemwide charges to $52,536.
In November 2025 the Regents met at UCLA's Luskin Conference Center and amended and renewed the Tuition Stability Plan. The share of new tuition revenue returned to financial aid was lowered by five percentage points to 40 percent, and a 1 percent increase was added on top of inflation. Both the UC president and the board chair voted against the amendment making that 1 percent discretionary for campus leaders. The student regent's objection was blunt: "If it ain't broke, why fix it?"
Around sixty protesters gathered outside, and several dozen disrupted the meeting before police cleared them. UCSA's president argued the money "should not come from students' pockets."
2025-2026 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 $14,934 a California resident paid in 2025-2026 is equivalent to $14,934 in 2025 dollars. Non-resident tuition of $52,536 works out to $52,536 in 2025 dollars.
Resident tuition in 2025 dollars
$14,934
Non-resident tuition in 2025 dollars
$52,536
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 $55/day of instruction, or $996/class (assuming 15 classes per year).
At California's $16.50/hr minimum wage back then, covering tuition alone would take 905 hours of work (~23 full-time weeks) — before housing and food.
Quick Facts
Resident Tuition
vs. 5 years earlier (2020-2021)
+$2,364
Resident tuition rose 18.81% from $12,570 to $14,934
vs. 10 years earlier (2015-2016)
+$2,694
Resident tuition rose 22.01% from $12,240 to $14,934
Non-Resident Tuition
vs. 5 years earlier (2020-2021)
+$10,212
Non-resident tuition rose 24.13% from $42,324 to $52,536
vs. 10 years earlier (2015-2016)
+$15,588
Non-resident tuition rose 42.19% from $36,948 to $52,536
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 2025-2026 are drawn from the following sources.
- Daily Bruin: UC regents amend, renew progressive tuition increases for new students (Nov. 19, 2025)(opens in a new tab)
- ABC7: UC regents vote on tuition increase as students protest at UCLA (Nov. 20, 2025)(opens in a new tab)
- UC: Tuition Stability Plan(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)