Cost of Attendance

Fees are typically charged per semester. First semester graduate students should expect the following:

Tuition	Mandatory Fees	Other Fees
The 2025-2026 tuition fee is $2,376 per unit. Expect an approximately 3 ‒ 5% tuition increase each year.	Graduate student programming fee = $20 (charged per semester)	Student health insurance. See USC Student Health for fees and waiver information.
	Norman H. Topping student aid fund = $11 (charged per semester)	Student health center fee = $700 (charged to students with 6 units or more every semester). See USC Student Health for online students for more information.
		Tuition refund insurance. See Office of Academic Records and Registrar for rates and opt out instructions.
TOTAL = $2,376 x # of units	TOTAL = $31 for full-time students	TOTAL = Varies

Estimated Credentialing Fees

The requirements to be recommended for a California preliminary teaching credential involve some fees. See the table below for an estimate of costs.

Basic Skills Requirement – CBEST	$102.00
Subject Matter Competency – CSET	$297.00
Certificate of Clearance Online Application	$52.65
LiveScan (varies $20-$120)	$120.00
TB Test (varies $0-$200)	$200.00
California Teaching Performance Assessment (CalTPA)	$300.00
CPR Training (varies $60-$120)	$120.00
US Constitution Exam (varies $85-$100)	$100.00
Reading Instruction Competence Assessment (RICA)* (for Multiple Subject & Education Specialist Credential candidates)	$171
CSET Spanish III & IV** (for Bilingual Authorization in Spanish candidates only)	$198
Total Possible	$1,079.65 - $1,648.65

*Additional credentialing fees: BILA Exams (for California Bilingual Authorization in Spanish supplemental certification only)= $198.00