College dataData from U.S. Dept of EducationUpdated May 2026 · 4 min read
Data: 2026-05 Next refresh: Nov 2026

University of California-Los Angeles: Cost, Graduate Salary, Acceptance Rate and Return on Investment

University of California-Los Angeles is a public college in Los Angeles, CA. Students pay about $12,548 a year in net price, and the median graduate earns $82,511 ten years after enrolling. By our Degree-ROI measure the degree pays back in about 1.8 years and adds $293,918 over a decade, ranking it #42 of 918 (top 5%) by value added.

Avg net price / yr
$12,548
Median salary (10 yrs)
$82,511
10-yr value added
$293,918
Acceptance rate
9.0%

What is University of California-Los Angeles's acceptance rate?

University of California-Los Angeles has an acceptance rate of 9.0%, which makes it highly selective. It is a public institution in Los Angeles, CA enrolling about 33,475 students, with a 92.6% graduation rate.

How much does University of California-Los Angeles cost?

University of California-Los Angeles costs about $12,548 per year in average net price, what a typical student actually pays after grants and scholarships. Over four years, including typical borrowing, that totals roughly $64,192. Published sticker cost of attendance is $38,614 per year.

How much do University of California-Los Angeles graduates earn?

Ten years after enrolling, the median University of California-Los Angeles student earns $82,511 per year. That is $35,811 more than the $46,700 that the typical worker with only a high-school diploma earns.

Is University of California-Los Angeles worth it? Degree ROI and payback period

University of California-Los Angeles pays back its roughly $64,192 cost in about 1.8 years, then keeps returning the earnings premium. Over the first decade the degree adds about $293,918 net of cost, a 5.58x return on the money invested. That ranks it #42 of 918 (top 5%) by value added. Its top-tier value is driven mainly by a low net price and strong graduate earnings.

Top 10% value

University of California-Los Angeles graduation rate and student debt

92.6% of University of California-Los Angeles students complete their degree, and the median graduate leaves with $14,000 in federal student debt. That debt is about 17% of one year of median graduate earnings.

University of California-Los Angeles by the numbers (vs the typical college)

How University of California-Los Angeles compares to the median four-year college in our snapshot. Percentile is its rank among the 918 colleges that report both earnings and cost (higher is better).

MetricThis schoolMedian collegePercentile
Avg net price / yr$12,548$20,299cheaper than 85%
Median earnings (10 yrs)$82,511$54,76891th
Graduation rate92.6%57.0%97th
Acceptance rate9.0%75.7%more selective than 98%
10-yr value added$293,918-$28,19296th
ROI multiple (per $1)5.58x0.73x98th
Payback period1.8 yrs8.8 yrsfaster than 98%
How we compute Degree value-add & ROI. Investment basis = average net price × 4 years + median debt (net price preferred; published sticker cost used as a fallback). Earnings premium = median earnings 10 years after entry minus the $46,700 typical earnings of a worker with only a high-school diploma (BLS Current Population Survey, median annual earnings for workers with a high-school diploma and no college (~$899/week, 2023)). Degree value-add = premium × 10 years minus total cost, the net return of the degree itself over a high-school career (it can be negative). ROI multiple = 10-year premium ÷ cost. Payback = cost ÷ annual premium. Ranked by value-add among the 918 four-year colleges in this snapshot that report both earnings and cost; 226 of them do not pay back at ten years. Missing values are excluded, never estimated.
Open data: these figures come from the public College Scorecard (public domain). Our computed Degree value-add, ROI multiple, and payback are free to cite/reuse under CC-BY 4.0.

Frequently asked

Is University of California-Los Angeles worth the cost compared to other colleges?

By value added net of cost, University of California-Los Angeles ranks #42 of 918 (top 5%) of the 918 four-year colleges we rank, and returns about 5.58x the money invested over a decade.

Is University of California-Los Angeles expensive compared to other colleges?

Its $12,548 average net price is below the $20,299 median for the colleges in this snapshot, making it cheaper than 85% of them.

Do University of California-Los Angeles graduates earn more than average?

Median earnings of $82,511 ten years out are above the $54,768 median, higher than 91% of the colleges here.

How hard is it to get into University of California-Los Angeles compared to other colleges?

Its 9.0% acceptance rate is below the 75.7% median, making it more selective than 98% of the colleges in the snapshot.

Federal data behind this page

What a programme costs, what its graduates earn, and what aid is available are published by federal statistical agencies rather than by any provider's marketing page, and the sources below are the primary ones. They are linked so a reader can check a figure here directly.

This page compares programmes on published data. Outcomes vary by student, and a reader's own aid package and circumstances decide what a programme actually costs them.

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