Los Angeles, CA · Public · Every figure is for a student starting in fall 2027. We work each one out again whenever we update the site.
How to pay for California State University-Los Angeles
What a year costs here, what brings it down, and what a SmartTuition plan could save a family like yours.
Paying for four years here
Four years here, after grants
$76,058
A SmartTuition plan could save a family like this about $4,600.
A SmartTuition plan shows what to pay from where, each semester, using your own numbers.
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A family of four with good credit and $500 a month for college. How we worked these out ↓
A year at California State University-Los Angeles
| Full price, in state | $31,642 |
| Full price, out of state | $32,980 |
| After grants, at your income | $17,562 |
At this income, 23 of California's other 64 colleges cost less after grants, and 41 cost more. See them all →
What can bring it down
Merit scholarships. President's Scholars get $2,500 to $6,800 a year, renewable for up to four years. They are chosen from incoming Honors College freshmen, with no separate application, and generally have a high school GPA of at least 3.75 (and 1 more below).
Pay less for college
A SmartTuition plan shows what to pay from where, each semester.
At California State University-Los Angeles, our scenarios for California households with good parent credit show a SmartTuition plan saving a median of about $4,900 over four years. How we worked this out ↓
Considering more than one college?
Put the schools you are considering on one list and we price each of them for your family. It is free. It asks what you earn and what you have saved, never your name.
Put your schools side by side →Merit scholarships
What California State University-Los Angeles says it awards for grades and test scores.
President's Scholars get $2,500 to $6,800 a year, renewable for up to four years. They are chosen from incoming Honors College freshmen, with no separate application, and generally have a high school GPA of at least 3.75.
Out of state: students from the exchange states pay 150% of in-state tuition: about $5,675.54 a term, against about $9,618.04 for other states. Awards go by academic profile and major, and seven majors are left out, among them Nursing and Psychology.
How we worked these out
The family
A family of four with good parent credit and $500 a month to put toward college, and the savings you pick. In state, the grants are what California State University-Los Angeles reports families at that income got, on average. Your own will differ, and a family with no aid pays close to the full price. Out of state, there are no grants: the price is before any scholarship from the college.
What a SmartTuition plan saves
The difference, over four years, between a SmartTuition plan and the standard approach: savings first, then loans for the rest. It counts loan interest and the federal tax credit.
The $4,900 in the “Pay less for college” box near the top of this page is the median saving in California State University-Los Angeles's own scenarios. Each scenario is a household that lives in California, with an income from $45,000 to $200,000 and savings of none, $40,000 or $100,000 in a 529. We price California State University-Los Angeles at the aid it reports for that income.
Every scenario has parents with good credit and $500 a month toward college. The card above uses the same two. A scenario where the parents would borrow more than $65,000 is left out.
The prices by income
- They describe students who got aid.
- “Over $110,000” has no upper limit, so it averages families just over $110,000 with far wealthier ones. A family at $115,000 should expect to pay less than it shows.
- Each range is reported on its own, so the prices do not always rise with income.
Where the prices come from
Where the prices come from: California State University-Los Angeles's own 2026-27 tuition, fees, housing, food and books, from its website, carried forward to 2027 at 3.0% a year. The grants are the U.S. Department of Education's College Scorecard (2025-26 figures), carried forward the same way. Each price after grants is the cost less those grants. The out-of-state figure uses the published out-of-state tuition instead. The average price after grants counts the students who get federal aid. Your own figure will be different.
California State University-Los Angeles's own budget for 2026-27 is $38,500. It also counts costs the university doesn't bill for, such as travel and personal spending. We leave those out.
SmartTuition.ai is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by California State University-Los Angeles. Aid policies change; check current terms with the college's aid office.
Nearby at your income
- University of California, Santa Barbara$17,013 a year
- Cal Poly Maritime Academy$17,203 a year
- California State University-Los Angeles$17,562 a year
- Cal Poly San Luis Obispo$17,709 a year
- California State University-Long Beach$17,819 a year
What each college charges, less the average grant for your income. Every California college →