Claremont, CA · Private · 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 Claremont McKenna College
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
$150,956
A SmartTuition plan could save a family like this about $11,000.
A SmartTuition plan shows what to pay from where, each semester, using your own numbers.
Build your SmartTuition plan for Claremont McKenna College, $99 →Best once your award letter arrives. No letter yet? Get the monthly email.
A family of four with good credit and $500 a month for college. How we worked these out ↓
A year at Claremont McKenna College
| Full price | $104,248 |
| After grants, at your income | $39,327 |
43% of first-year students here got a grant or scholarship from the college in 2023-24, $49,400 on average.
At this income, 58 of California's other 64 colleges cost less after grants, and 6 cost more. See them all →
What can bring it down
Merit scholarships. Two merit awards for entering freshmen, chosen from finalists: the McKenna Achievement Award of $15,000 a year, and the Frank Seaver Leadership Scholarship, which pays full tuition. Neither is set by a GPA.
Claremont McKenna College's promise. Claremont McKenna College says it covers 100% of what a family cannot pay. The conditions ↓
Pay less for college
A SmartTuition plan shows what to pay from where, each semester.
At Claremont McKenna College, our scenarios for California households with good parent credit show a SmartTuition plan saving a median of about $3,200 over four years. How we worked this out ↓
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Put your schools side by side →Merit scholarships
What Claremont McKenna College says it awards for grades and test scores.
Two merit awards for entering freshmen, chosen from finalists: the McKenna Achievement Award of $15,000 a year, and the Frank Seaver Leadership Scholarship, which pays full tuition. Neither is set by a GPA.
What Claremont McKenna College commits to
Claremont McKenna College says it covers 100% of what a family cannot pay.
“CMC is committed to meeting 100% of a student’s demonstrated financial need.”
Claremont McKenna College financial aid office — verified 2026-09.
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 Claremont McKenna College reports families at that income got, on average. Your own will differ, and a family with no aid pays close to the full price.
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 $3,200 in the “Pay less for college” box near the top of this page is the median saving in Claremont McKenna College'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 Claremont McKenna College 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.
Grants from the college
How many first-year students got a grant from Claremont McKenna College, and the average, are the Department of Education's figures for full-time students who started in 2023-24. They cover every income. The prices after grants already count these grants, so don't take them off again. The Department of Education's page for Claremont McKenna College →
Where the prices come from
Where the prices come from: Claremont McKenna College's own 2026-27 tuition, fees, housing and food, from its website, carried forward to 2027 at 4.0% a year. Books are the College Scorecard's. 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 average price after grants counts the students who get federal aid. Your own figure will be different.
Claremont McKenna College's own budget for 2026-27 is $101,990. It also counts costs the college 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 Claremont McKenna College. Aid policies change; check current terms with the college's aid office.
Nearby at your income
- Point Loma Nazarene University$36,548 a year
- Pitzer College$37,485 a year
- Claremont McKenna College$39,327 a year
- Santa Clara University$43,004 a year
- Pepperdine University$43,636 a year
What each college charges, less the average grant for your income. Every California college →