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 Pitzer 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
$143,588
A SmartTuition plan could save a family like this about $9,700.
A SmartTuition plan shows what to pay from where, each semester, using your own numbers.
Build your SmartTuition plan for Pitzer 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 Pitzer College
| Full price | $99,170 |
| After grants, at your income | $37,485 |
39% of first-year students here got a grant or scholarship from the college in 2023-24, $48,966 on average.
At this income, 57 of California's other 64 colleges cost less after grants, and 7 cost more. See them all →
What can bring it down
Merit scholarships. A limited number of Trustee Scholarships of $5,000 a year for first-year students with specific academic qualifications. Every first-year applicant is considered automatically, and the award renews for eight semesters with a 2.0 GPA.
Pitzer College's promise. Pitzer 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 Pitzer College, our scenarios for California households with good parent credit show a SmartTuition plan saving a median of about $4,400 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 Pitzer College says it awards for grades and test scores.
A limited number of Trustee Scholarships of $5,000 a year for first-year students with specific academic qualifications. Every first-year applicant is considered automatically, and the award renews for eight semesters with a 2.0 GPA.
What Pitzer College commits to
Pitzer College says it covers 100% of what a family cannot pay.
“We understand that the path to higher education is as unique as the individual embarking on it. That’s why we meet 100% of students’ demonstrated need.”
Pitzer College financial aid office — verified 2026-09.
Conditions the school attaches to that commitment
- The page says the need is met through a variety of federal, state and institutional aid sources.
These are the school’s own qualifiers. A commitment quoted without them is not the commitment they made.
Published guarantees you may qualify for
We do not assume you qualify for any of these, and our plans never bank on them. Check each against your own situation with the aid office.
Pitzer Opportunity Grant: 100% of tuition for household income and family assets of $120,000 or less
Household income up to $120,000. Covers tuition.
- The limit is on household income and family assets together. A California resident who qualifies for a Cal Grant is covered too, even above the limit.
“starting in Fall 2025, the Pitzer Opportunity Grant (POG) will provide significant support to help students afford a Pitzer education: California Residents Pitzer College will cover 100% of tuition for students with an annual household income and family assets of $120,000 or less, or who qualify for a Cal Grant. Out-of-State Residents Pitzer College will cover 100% of tuition for students with an annual household income and family assets of $120,000 or less.”
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 Pitzer 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 $4,400 in the “Pay less for college” box near the top of this page is the median saving in Pitzer 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 Pitzer 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 Pitzer 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 Pitzer College →
Where the prices come from
Where the prices come from: Pitzer College's own 2026-27 tuition, fees, housing, food and books, from its website, carried forward to 2027 at 4.0% 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 average price after grants counts the students who get federal aid. Your own figure will be different.
Pitzer College's own budget for 2026-27 is $96,706. 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 Pitzer College. Aid policies change; check current terms with the college's aid office.
Nearby at your income
- The Master's University and Seminary$35,187 a year
- 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
What each college charges, less the average grant for your income. Every California college →