Tuition, however, is a small portion of the total cost of college. The big toll is housing — the wrecking ball often obliterating families’ affordability plans. Food, textbooks and transportation add up as well. But California’s robust financial aid system, including the growing power of the federal Pell Grant for low-income students, helps keep college affordable for low- and middle-class students — a concept known as “net price.”

Families making more than $110,000 have historically paid much higher college costs, chiefly because they receive less state and federal aid. California ranks among the most affordable states for low- and middle-income students at public universities. Cal State is the bigger bargain: Students from families with incomes below $30,000 typically pay less than $5,000 to attend. Why is it cheaper than a UC? Lower in-state tuition and more students living at home.

Still, although low-income families qualify for more financial aid, the share of family income they pay remains high.  

The story is the same for UC: Students from families with incomes below $60,000 have a net price of about $11,000 a year —  a level that barely budged in two decades. Through loans and part-time work, those costs can be manageable, but they still eat up nearly a fifth of that family’s income.