Tuition Trends for California colleges Over Past 10 Years

There are 703 colleges in California - 178 public and 525 private schools. The 2024 average tuition & fees of the 4-year colleges in California is $6,917 for California residents and $20,723 for out-of-state students. In private colleges, the average tuition & fees is $28,960. For California community colleges, the average tuition & fees is $1,555 for state residents and $9,897 for out-of-state students.

California public 4-year colleges' in-state tuition & fees increased by 5.20% from $6,486 (2015) to $6,823 (2024) and out-of-state tuition & fees grew by 18.05% over the past decade from $17,679 (2015) to $20,870 (2024). In private California colleges, the tuition & fees increased by 12.44%, from $25,579 (2015) to $28,761 (2024).

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Cost of Attendance (COA) Changes

Over the past 10 years, the COA has increased by 22.96% when living on campus and by 30.49% when living off campus at public California colleges. For private California colleges, the COA has increased by 18.60% (on-campus) and 24.77% (off-camus). The COA includes tuition, fees, books & supplies, room & board, and other personal expenses.

Cost of Attendance (COA) Changes of California colleges
Year	Living On Campus			Living Off Campus
Year	In-State	Out-of-State	Private Schools	In-State	Out-of-State	Private Schools
2014-15	$22,674	$33,867	$41,767	$23,208	$34,401	$42,301
2015-16	$23,055 1.68%	$34,591 2.14%	$42,735 2.32%	$23,737 2.28%	$35,273 2.53%	$43,417 2.64%
2016-17	$23,834 3.38%	$35,890 3.76%	$44,118 3.24%	$24,265 2.22%	$36,321 2.97%	$44,549 2.61%
2017-18	$24,317 2.03%	$36,885 2.77%	$44,383 0.60%	$24,610 1.42%	$37,178 2.36%	$44,676 0.29%
2018-19	$24,611 1.21%	$37,246 0.98%	$44,434 0.11%	$25,084 1.93%	$37,719 1.46%	$44,907 0.52%
2019-20	$25,350 3.00%	$38,333 2.92%	$45,183 1.69%	$26,432 5.37%	$39,415 4.50%	$46,265 3.02%
2020-21	$25,127 -0.88%	$38,383 0.13%	$45,107 -0.17%	$26,748 1.20%	$40,004 1.49%	$46,728 1.00%
2021-22	$25,443 1.26%	$38,754 0.97%	$45,959 1.89%	$27,469 2.70%	$40,780 1.94%	$47,985 2.69%
2022-23	$26,138 2.73%	$39,804 2.71%	$47,327 2.98%	$28,701 4.49%	$42,367 3.89%	$49,890 3.97%
2023-24	$27,597 5.58%	$41,644 4.62%	$49,535 4.67%	$30,842 7.46%	$44,889 5.95%	$52,780 5.79%

Tuition & Fees Changes

For the current year (2024), the average tuition & fees for California colleges is $6,823 for California residents and $21,020 out-of-state students. In private schools, the average tuition & fees is $29,981.

For graduate programs, the 2024 average graduate tuition & fees is $12,758 for California residents and $23,968 out-of-state students. In private schools, the average graduate program tuition & fees is $25,552.

The tuition & fees has increased 18.05% for undergraduate programs at California colleges. The following table and chart illustrate the changes of tuition & fees by tuition rates and degrees.

Tuition & Fees Changes for California colleges
Year	Undergraduate			Graduate
Year	In-State	Out-of-State	Private Schools	In-State	Out-of-State	Private Schools
2014-15	$6,486	$17,679	$25,579	$10,660	$22,414	$20,723
2015-16	$6,541 0.85%	$18,077 2.25%	$26,221 2.51%	$10,849 1.77%	$21,068 -6.01%	$21,235 2.47%
2016-17	$6,594 0.81%	$18,650 3.17%	$26,878 2.51%	$10,697 -1.40%	$20,596 -2.24%	$22,117 4.15%
2017-18	$6,683 1.35%	$19,251 3.22%	$26,749 -0.48%	$11,179 4.51%	$21,446 4.13%	$22,118 0.00%
2018-19	$6,668 -0.22%	$19,303 0.27%	$26,491 -0.96%	$11,301 1.09%	$21,590 0.67%	$21,894 -1.01%
2019-20	$6,725 0.85%	$19,708 2.10%	$26,558 0.25%	$11,377 0.67%	$21,666 0.35%	$21,939 0.21%
2020-21	$6,797 1.07%	$20,053 1.75%	$26,777 0.82%	$11,609 2.04%	$22,316 3.00%	$22,384 2.03%
2021-22	$6,806 0.13%	$20,117 0.32%	$27,322 2.04%	$11,589 -0.17%	$21,878 -1.96%	$23,016 2.82%
2022-23	$6,690 -1.70%	$20,356 1.19%	$27,879 2.04%	$10,370 -10.52%	$21,651 -1.04%	$23,391 1.63%
2023-24	$6,823 1.99%	$20,870 2.53%	$28,761 3.16%	$10,762 3.78%	$22,043 1.81%	$24,675 5.49%

California 4-Year Colleges Tuition & Fees Trend Chart

California Graduate Schools Tuition & Fees Trend Chart

Books & Supplies Costs Changes for California colleges
Year	Books & Supplies
2014-15	$1,666
2015-16	$1,626 -2.40%
2016-17	$1,592 -2.09%
2017-18	$1,551 -2.58%
2018-19	$1,548 -0.19%
2019-20	$1,598 3.23%
2020-21	$1,239 -22.47%
2021-22	$1,257 1.45%
2022-23	$1,218 -3.10%
2023-24	$1,200 -1.48%

Living Costs Changes

For California colleges, the living have increased 27.21% when a student lives on campus facilities and 36.99% when living off campus from year 2015 to 2024. The living costs includes costs for room & board, and other living expenses.

Living Costs Changes for California colleges
Year	Living On Campus	Living Off Campus
2014-15	$14,522	$15,427
2015-16	$14,888 2.89%	$15,809 4.18%
2016-17	$15,648 5.56%	$16,558 3.59%
2017-18	$16,083 3.22%	$16,935 2.68%
2018-19	$16,395 1.80%	$17,253 3.30%
2019-20	$17,027 3.39%	$18,239 5.51%
2020-21	$17,091 1.77%	$18,342 5.54%
2021-22	$17,380 2.35%	$18,684 4.79%
2022-23	$18,230 4.94%	$19,683 7.33%
2023-24	$19,574 5.98%	$21,216 8.67%

Most Searched California Colleges (last 30 days)

Undergraduate

California Polytechnic State University-San Luis Obispo Public, four-years | San Luis Obispo
Stanford University Private, four-years | Stanford
University of California-Los Angeles Public, four-years | Los Angeles
National University Private, four-years | San Diego
University of California-Berkeley Public, four-years | Berkeley
DeVry University-California Private, four-years | Ontario
California Institute of Technology Private, four-years | Pasadena
University of Southern California Private, four-years | Los Angeles
San Diego State University Public, four-years | San Diego
University of California-Irvine Public, four-years | Irvine

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Graduate

National University Private, four-years | San Diego
San Jose State University Public, four-years | San Jose
California State University-Northridge Public, four-years | Northridge
Santa Clara University Private, four-years | Santa Clara
California State University-Fresno Public, four-years | Fresno
University of the Pacific Private, four-years | Stockton
Sonoma State University Public, four-years | Rohnert Park
Stanford University Private, four-years | Stanford
California Institute of Technology Private, four-years | Pasadena
University of California-Merced Public, four-years | Merced

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Online Schools

Ashford University Private, four-years | San Diego
National University Private, four-years | San Diego
University of Redlands Private, four-years | Redlands
Academy of Art University Private, four-years | San Francisco
Stanford University Private, four-years | Stanford
Chaffey College Public, 2-4 years | Rancho Cucamonga
Clovis Community College Public, 2-4 years | Fresno
Claremont Lincoln University Private, four-years | Claremont
California Intercontinental University Private, four-years | Irvine
University of Massachusetts Global Public, four-years | Irvine

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Technical Colleges

Coastline Beauty College Private, Less than 2-years | Fountain Valley
Advance Beauty College Private, Less than 2-years | Garden Grove
UEI College-Riverside Private, Less than 2-years | Riverside
Unitek College Private, Less than 2-years | Hayward
Stanbridge University Private, four-years | Irvine
Casa Loma College-Los Angeles Private, four-years | Sherman Oaks
Career Academy of Beauty Private, Less than 2-years | Garden Grove
Paul Mitchell the School-San Diego Private, Less than 2-years | San Diego
Blake Austin College Private, Less than 2-years | Vacaville
Advanced Career Institute Private, Less than 2-years | Visalia

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Tuition Trends for California colleges Over Past 10 Years

Cost of Attendance (COA) Changes

Tuition & Fees Changes

Books & Supplies Costs Changes

Living Costs Changes