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UCLA scholarships and merit aid

Two prices: the posted one, and yours.

Posted price$45,353per year · 2025-2026 · ResidentNon-resident $84,623
Yours?depends on the rules below

The short answer

UCLA may be worth checking, but its awards do not follow a simple grades-and-scores chart. Start with the published scholarships below.

Where does your student land?

Verified Jul 2026
5 school sources to explore

Published rules, with the school sources close at hand. Confirm the details before you count on an award.

The award collection

Published scholarships

These amounts and requirements come from the school’s own published pages. Open an award to see who qualifies and how to keep it.

Where does your student land?

  1. Regents Scholarship$2,000/year ($8,000 over four years). If the scholar has additional financial need, UCLA awards university grants to cover the remainder of demonstrated need.Not automaticRenewable
    Published awardOther selection criteria

    Regents Scholarship

    $2,000/year ($8,000 over four years). If the scholar has additional financial need, UCLA awards university grants to cover the remainder of demonstrated need.

    Published award termsNot recorded as automatic on grades and scores. Read the selection rules. Confirm the policy year with the school.

    Start with the award’s published eligibility.

    RenewableCheck the conditions
    Open award details for Regents Scholarship

    Who qualifies

    Invitation-only. Approximately 75 entering freshmen per year. Top applicants identified from the admissions pool; no separate application. Candidates receive an email with a unique application code.

    How to keep it

    Renewable for four years (12 academic quarters). Requires 3.0 cumulative GPA.

    Worth knowing

    The primary value for non-need students is prestige and priority enrollment, not the $2,000/year cash award. For students with need, Regents status qualifies them for additional UCLA grants. Benefits include guaranteed housing, faculty mentorship, and priority enrollment.

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What makes UCLA different

A public research university where nearly all undergraduate aid is need-based. Only about 4% of freshmen receive non-need institutional merit, averaging $8,557. The Regents Scholarship ($2,000/year honorarium plus priority enrollment and mentorship) is awarded to approximately 75 entering freshmen. The UC Blue and Gold Opportunity Plan covers tuition for CA families under $100,000.

Merit tiers1See who qualifies
First-year students with school awards4%First-year students, CDS 2024-2025
Research checkedJul 2026By our research team

Selection beyond grades and scores

Start with the selection process.

These awards are not recorded as automatic on grades and scores. Read each award's selection rules, application steps and dates. Meeting a minimum is not an award offer.

  1. Read the selection rules

    Look for the school's stated criteria and whether an additional application is needed.

  2. Check the application dates

    Confirm the current admission and scholarship deadlines directly with the school.

  3. Know what happens next year

    Check renewal, credit requirements and how other aid affects the award.

The fine print / Three questions to carry forward

Before you count on it.

Does it apply to us? Confirm the entering year, residency and every eligibility condition.

Can we keep it? Check renewal GPA, credits and how long the award lasts.

Can we combine it? Ask how outside scholarships and other school awards change the offer.

Take UCLA's decision sheet

A printable research summary, source links and room for your questions.

See what could change an award

What families often miss

  1. UCLA does not award automatic scholarships based on GPA or test scores. Nearly all undergraduate funding is need-based. Out-of-state families paying ~$85,000/year often assume merit will offset the $39,270 NRST. Only 4% of freshmen receive any non-need merit, averaging $8,557.

  2. Blue and Gold covers systemwide tuition and fees for CA families with income under $100,000. It is a need-based guarantee, not a merit award. It does not cover housing, food, books, or the NRST for out-of-state students.

See costs and school data

Who this school may work for

California families who need to understand that UCLA is primarily a need-based aid school. The Regents Scholarship is prestigious but only $2,000/year for students without financial need. Out-of-state families should know that UCLA offers essentially no merit aid to offset the $39,270 Nonresident Supplemental Tuition. In-state families under $100,000 can attend essentially tuition-free through Blue and Gold.

Cost of attendance$45,353–$84,623 for 2025-2026Each bar is the full published cost for that scenario, sized against the highest figure so totals compare at a glance.
Out-of-state, on-campus$84,623
In-state, on-campus$45,353
  • Tuition & fees
  • Housing & food
  • Books
  • Travel
  • Personal
  • Health insurance

Public. UC SHIP health insurance ($3,687) is standard but waivable with proof of coverage. Resident scenario matches input $45,353; nonresident adds $39,270 supplemental tuition.

UCLA cost-of-attendance source

Cost and graduation facts

Federal reporting on who actually enrolls at UCLA, what they paid after aid, and what happened next — independent of anything the school markets.

Average annual net price by family income at UCLA, academic year 2021-22 — in-state, Title-IV aid recipients only
Family incomeAverage net price paid
$0–$30,000$5,579
$30,001–$48,000$6,682
$48,001–$75,000$9,811
$75,001–$110,000$14,142
$110,001+$29,682
All income levels (average)$12,548

Sticker price vs. what students actually pay

Published tuition & fees (in-state), AY 2022-23
$15,203
Published tuition & fees (out-of-state), AY 2022-23
$49,403
Average net price paid (all Title-IV aid), AY 2021-22
$12,548

That works out to roughly a 68% discount below the federal AY 2021-22 average cost of attendance of $38,614 (College Scorecard — a separate, federally reported figure, not the published cost of attendance shown above).

UCLA is a public school; Scorecard's net price figure covers in-state, Title-IV-aid-recipient payers only — there is no comparable federal figure for out-of-state students.

Outcomes for students who enrolled here

Graduation rate (150% of normal time), 2016 cohort
93%
First-year retention rate, 2021 cohort
97%
Median debt at completion, 2020–2021 completers
$14,000 (~$148/mo on a 10-yr plan)
Median earnings, 10 years after entry (measured 2020-21)
$82,511
Share of students receiving a Pell grant, AY 2021-22
27%
Share of students receiving a federal loan, AY 2021-22
17%
See other scholarships and cost examples

If your student brings another scholarship

Outside scholarships first reduce need-based loans and work-study. Only as a last resort do they reduce UCLA grants and institutional scholarships.

UC system policy: when outside scholarships create an overaward, UCs follow a student-friendly displacement order. Outside awards first reduce need-based loans and work-study. Only as a last resort are grants and institutional scholarships reduced. Federal regulations require total aid from all sources not to exceed the cost of attendance.

Source

More school data

From the UCLA Common Data Set 2024-2025:

Merit penetrationHow likely is merit aid here?From UCLA’s Common Data Set: the share of first-year students who receive institutional merit and the average dollar amount when they do.
4%of admitsget merit
Average award$8,557Covers ~10% of $84,623 cost of attendance

At UCLA, roughly 1 in 25 first-year admits receive institutional merit aid. The average award is $8,557 — about 10% of total cost.

SAT mid-50%1290–150025th / 75th percentile
ACT mid-50%29–3325th / 75th percentile
Receive institutional merit4%First-year students
Average merit award$8,557Across recipients

Source: Common Data Set

Other UCLA scholarships worth checking

These awards can be harder to find. Each one has its own rules.

Amount$4,000-$20,000 per year (multi-year possible)EligibilityAdmitted students. Requires separate application with essay and interview after admission. Application opens late March through the UCLA Scholarship Application portal.

Often overlooked because the application opens after admission decisions. Families who celebrate admission and forget to check the scholarship portal in late March miss a real opportunity.

Source

UCLA merit aid FAQ

  • Does UCLA offer merit scholarships?

    Very limited. Only about 4% of freshmen receive non-need institutional merit, averaging $8,557. The Regents Scholarship ($2,000/year for non-need students) goes to ~75 freshmen by invitation. UCLA Alumni Scholarships ($4,000-$20,000) require a separate application. No automatic merit awards based on GPA or test scores exist.

  • What is the Blue and Gold Opportunity Plan?

    Blue and Gold is a UC-wide need-based guarantee covering systemwide tuition and fees for California residents with family income under $100,000. Not a merit award. Does not cover housing (~$19,800), food, books, or the NRST ($39,270) for OOS students. Requires FAFSA filing.

  • Is UCLA worth the cost for out-of-state students?

    At ~$85,000/year with minimal merit available, OOS families should compare carefully. Only 4% of freshmen receive merit averaging ~$8,600. Selective privates with generous need-based aid may cost less net than UCLA OOS.

See sources and other schools

How UCLA compares

  • 145 of 749 verified schools in our dataset use loan-first displacement.

    UCLA is in a recognizable cluster (145 schools share this category). That framing matters when comparing peer schools that may publish the policy differently or not at all.

  • 665 of 749 verified schools publish at least one four-year renewable merit award.

    UCLA is one of them. The cohort minority (84 schools) only awards one-year scholarships, which means the four-year value families assume on a brochure quote isn't guaranteed at every school.

Sources used on this page

Every claim is checked against UCLA’s own published materials. Below is the full reference set.

Compare with similar schools

Keep exploring UCLA merit aid

The next chapter

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