Which colleges are most affordable for California residents ? The answer may surprise you.
These rankings of the most affordable colleges for California residents are based on the estimated net price for a "typical" middle class family living in the state of California.
Note: Net price is the actual cost of the school paid by the student and family, after factoring in merit and grant aid from the college federal programs and work study.The net prices displayed in these rankings are College Raptor's estimates.
“Typical” middle class family values used in the Net Price estimates on this page are:
| Rank | Institution | Typical Net Price | Sticker Price | % Savings | Undergraduates | Est. Median SAT | Acceptance Rate | Save |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | California Institute of Technology | 7100 | 90300 | 0.9212 | 987 | 1557 | 0.0257 | |
| 2 | Pomona College | 8800 | 88500 | 0.9005 | 1,766 | 1520 | 0.0709 | |
| 3 | Stanford University | 9400 | 71500 | 0.868 | 7,904 | 1535 | 0.0361 | |
| 4 | University of California-Davis | 10200 | 38000 | 0.7304 | 32,273 | 1290 | 0.4183 | |
| 5 | California State University-Stanislaus | 10900 | 29100 | 0.6256 | 8,455 | 950 | 0.9814 | |
| 6 | California State University-Fresno | 11400 | 19700 | 0.4199 | 21,430 | 995 | 0.9638 | |
| 7 | University of California-San Diego | 11500 | 34100 | 0.6617 | 34,955 | 1375 | 0.2677 | |
| 8 | California Polytechnic State University-San Luis Obispo | 12100 | 26300 | 0.5391 | 21,947 | 1335 | 0.3122 | |
| 9 | California State University-Northridge | 12300 | 23200 | 0.4694 | 32,499 | 1005 | 0.9219 | |
| 10 | Harvey Mudd College | 12400 | 93100 | 0.8672 | 921 | 1528 | 0.1266 | |
| 11 | California State Polytechnic University-Pomona | 12600 | 12600 | 0.0009 | 25,255 | 1134 | 0.737 | |
| 12 | University of California-Santa Barbara | 13000 | 39000 | 0.6675 | 23,181 | 1354 | 0.3296 | |
| 13 | California State University-Channel Islands | 13300 | 48400 | 0.7246 | 5,290 | 975 | 0.9306 | |
| 14 | University of California-Merced | 13600 | 40400 | 0.6628 | 8,372 | 1070 | 0.9152 | |
| 15 | California State University-Bakersfield | 13800 | 28300 | 0.5104 | 8,865 | 1050 | 0.8508 | |
| 16 | California State University-San Bernardino | 14300 | 25200 | 0.433 | 14,993 | 920 | 0.9318 | |
| 17 | California State University-San Marcos | 14400 | 24700 | 0.4188 | 14,977 | 970 | 0.951 | |
| 18 | California State Polytechnic University-Humboldt | 14500 | 25200 | 0.4222 | 5,474 | 1138 | 0.9198 | |
| 19 | Pitzer College | 14700 | 89800 | 0.8358 | 1,242 | 1279 | 0.2516 | |
| 20 | Claremont McKenna College | 14900 | 90400 | 0.8352 | 1,390 | 1507 | 0.0959 | |
| 21 | University of California-Berkeley | 15000 | 43600 | 0.6561 | 33,469 | 1407 | 0.1104 | |
| 22 | California State University-Chico | 15400 | 23700 | 0.3492 | 13,392 | 1117 | 0.9158 | |
| 23 | California State University-Long Beach | 15700 | 25800 | 0.3918 | 35,843 | 1135 | 0.4628 | |
| 23 | University of California-Santa Cruz | 15700 | 38100 | 0.5886 | 17,940 | 1281 | 0.6557 | |
| 25 | California State University-Monterey Bay | 15900 | 30800 | 0.4842 | 6,910 | 1053 | 0.9734 | |
| 26 | University of California-Los Angeles | 16300 | 36700 | 0.5549 | 33,471 | 1399 | 0.0897 | |
| 26 | University of California-Riverside | 16300 | 36500 | 0.5533 | 22,599 | 1199 | 0.7685 | |
| 28 | Sonoma State University | 16400 | 26900 | 0.3893 | 5,412 | 1095 | 0.9473 | |
| 29 | California State University Maritime Academy | 16600 | 37200 | 0.555 | 761 | 1069 | 0.9873 | |
| 29 | California State University-East Bay | 16600 | 29800 | 0.4441 | 10,562 | 940 | 0.9681 | |
| 31 | California State University-Sacramento | 16700 | 27400 | 0.389 | 28,226 | 1015 | 0.9343 | |
| 32 | California State University-Fullerton | 16800 | 20600 | 0.1834 | 38,597 | 0 | 0.9052 | |
| 33 | San Francisco State University | 17000 | 33400 | 0.4916 | 20,756 | 1035 | 0.9615 | |
| 34 | Scripps College | 17100 | 93800 | 0.8178 | 1,117 | 1475 | 0.3829 | |
| 35 | Pacific Union College | 17300 | 53000 | 0.6733 | 910 | 1090 | 0.4248 | |
| 36 | California State University-Los Angeles | 18400 | 39400 | 0.5336 | 19,354 | 965 | 0.9125 | |
| 37 | San Jose State University | 18900 | 30000 | 0.3702 | 28,008 | 0 | 0.8461 | |
| 38 | University of Southern California | 19200 | 71400 | 0.7313 | 21,023 | 1485 | 0.1002 | |
| 39 | Thomas Aquinas College | 20200 | 40000 | 0.4959 | 372 | 1337 | 0.7976 | |
| 40 | Vanguard University of Southern California | 20300 | 54300 | 0.6264 | 1,964 | 1069 | 0.6479 | |
| 41 | Soka University of America | 20500 | 59900 | 0.6578 | 476 | 1324 | 0.6952 | |
| 42 | University of California-Irvine | 21000 | 35300 | 0.4058 | 30,204 | 1333 | 0.2878 | |
| 43 | Azusa Pacific University | 22500 | 63100 | 0.6432 | 2,996 | 1138 | 0.7959 | |
| 44 | Life Pacific University | 22900 | 45900 | 0.5011 | 396 | 1055 | 0.9395 | |
| 45 | Providence Christian College | 24100 | 61200 | 0.606 | 147 | 1110 | 0.9252 | |
| 46 | San Diego State University | 24300 | 28100 | 0.1367 | 34,637 | 1208 | 0.3598 | |
| 47 | Occidental College | 25300 | 87400 | 0.7106 | 1,881 | 1447 | 0.4417 | |
| 48 | La Sierra University | 25800 | 53800 | 0.5205 | 1,244 | 1015 | 0.933 | |
| 49 | Westmont College | 25900 | 76400 | 0.6614 | 1,311 | 1324 | 0.7704 | |
| 50 | William Jessup University | 26900 | 51600 | 0.4778 | 1,056 | 1178 | 0.7682 | |
| 51 | University of the Pacific | 27000 | 69800 | 0.6124 | 3,249 | 1298 | 0.7132 | |
| 52 | Concordia University-Irvine | 27600 | 64500 | 0.5722 | 1,465 | 1172 | 0.5986 | |
| 53 | Dominican University of California | 29600 | 69200 | 0.5724 | 1,127 | 1225 | 0.8392 | |
| 54 | Saint Mary's College of California | 30600 | 73600 | 0.5835 | 1,955 | 1175 | 0.8856 | |
| 55 | Fresno Pacific University | 30800 | 52200 | 0.4105 | 1,616 | 1075 | 0.5752 | |
| 55 | University of Redlands | 30800 | 80100 | 0.6158 | 2,045 | 1226 | 0.8271 | |
| 57 | California Baptist University | 30900 | 64600 | 0.5216 | 8,417 | 1069 | 0.8535 | |
| 58 | Biola University | 31000 | 52500 | 0.4099 | 3,481 | 1268 | 0.7482 | |
| 59 | Woodbury University | 31200 | 66600 | 0.5316 | 825 | 1087 | 0.7287 | |
| 60 | California Lutheran University | 32900 | 64900 | 0.4934 | 2,297 | 1258 | 0.7567 | |
| 61 | Loyola Marymount University | 33500 | 89500 | 0.6259 | 7,273 | 1353 | 0.4508 | |
| 62 | Hope International University | 33900 | 51100 | 0.3367 | 564 | 1070 | 0.3298 | |
| 63 | Point Loma Nazarene University | 36100 | 63900 | 0.4349 | 3,246 | 1296 | 0.8367 | |
| 64 | California Institute of the Arts | 36900 | 77300 | 0.5227 | 918 | 0 | 0.2595 | |
| 65 | Mount Saint Mary's University | 37100 | 79300 | 0.5317 | 1,733 | 1015 | 0.7313 | |
| 66 | The Master's University and Seminary | 38300 | 53700 | 0.2862 | 1,914 | 1110 | 0.7589 | |
| 67 | University of San Francisco | 40000 | 83400 | 0.5198 | 5,321 | 1292 | 0.6171 | |
| 68 | University of San Diego | 44400 | 83300 | 0.4673 | 5,851 | 1298 | 0.5238 | |
| 69 | Pepperdine University | 44700 | 89600 | 0.501 | 3,553 | 1378 | 0.6286 | |
| 70 | Otis College of Art and Design | 44900 | 78800 | 0.4301 | 1,224 | 1055 | 0.8176 | |
| 71 | Simpson University | 46400 | 54500 | 0.1485 | 755 | 1075 | 0.9903 | |
| 72 | Whittier College | 51900 | 67100 | 0.2265 | 767 | 1160 | 0.835 | |
| 73 | Santa Clara University | 52700 | 82900 | 0.3643 | 6,577 | 1427 | 0.48 | |
| 74 | Menlo College | 58700 | 86800 | 0.3236 | 831 | 1045 | 0.6781 | |
| 75 | Chapman University | 61900 | 86200 | 0.281 | 7,713 | 1357 | 0.6543 | |
| 76 | University of La Verne | 62100 | 66500 | 0.0664 | 2,414 | 1123 | 0.4847 |
School data is from 2022–2023 (top 500 results shown) for schools with at least 100 undergraduate students.
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