2026 Expensive California Colleges To Attend Rankings
Among California colleges, University of Southern California has the most expensive tuition & fees ($71,647) and Pepperdine University has the second highest tuition & fees ($69,918) based on academic year 2024-2025 college costs data.
Below table ranks and compares the Expensive California Colleges To Attend having expensive tuition & fees (based on undergraduate rate). For the ranking, we only include 4-year colleges that more than 1,500 students have enrolled in.
Expensive California Colleges To Attend
| Rank | College Name | Undergraduate Tuition & Fees | Graduate Tuition & Fees | SAT Score | Acceptance Rate | Population | Graduation Rate | Student to Faculty Ratio |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | University of Southern California Los Angeles, CA | $71,647 | $71,515 | 1,500 | 9.8% | 46,566 | 92% | 9 to 1 |
| 2 | Pepperdine University Malibu, CA | $69,918 | $44,056 | 1,370 | 62.9% | 8,976 | 83% | 12 to 1 |
| 3 | Occidental College Los Angeles, CA | $66,274 | $66,274 | 1,440 | 44.2% | 1,881 | 81% | 9 to 1 |
| 4 | Stanford University Stanford, CA | $65,910 | $61,878 | 1,550 | 3.6% | 18,625 | 92% | 6 to 1 |
| 5 | California Institute of Technology Pasadena, CA | $65,898 | $65,706 | - | 2.6% | 2,430 | 94% | 3 to 1 |
| 6 | Pomona College Claremont, CA | $65,420 | - | 1,540 | 7.1% | 1,700 | 93% | 7 to 1 |
| 7 | Chapman University Orange, CA | $64,984 | $39,868 | 1,350 | 65.4% | 9,760 | 82% | 12 to 1 |
| 8 | Loyola Marymount University Los Angeles, CA | $61,867 | $23,172 | 1,350 | 45.1% | 10,179 | 79% | 10 to 1 |
| 9 | Los Angeles Film School Hollywood, CA | $61,500 | - | - | - | 5,472 | 41% | 31 to 1 |
| 10 | Santa Clara University Santa Clara, CA | $61,293 | $31,694 | 1,420 | 48.0% | 9,728 | 88% | 11 to 1 |
Qualified California Colleges in Core Admission Stats
