California has 231 private and 51 public 4-year colleges that enroll 142,208 first-year students yearly. The average tuition of public colleges is $21,648 for in-state students and $35,739 for out-of-state and international students.

Private colleges in California charge around $34,110 per year in tuition regardless of residency.

In the 2021-2022 academic year, California provided $389.1 million in financial aid to 74,556 students who enrolled in 4-year colleges for the first time as undergraduates. In addition, the colleges themselves awarded $958.1 million in grants and scholarships to 76,537 students.

California receives 12.1% of the total pell grant the federal government allocates. In the 2021-2022 academic year, 63,690 4-year college first-year undergraduates were awarded a total amount of $334.2 million in pell grant ($5,141 per student on average), and 37,138 students received a total amount of $200.8 million in the form of student loans from the federal government ($5,811 per student on average).