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California Polytechnic State University - San Luis Obispo

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California Polytechnic State University - San Luis Obispo Overview

Located in San Luis Obispo, California, California Polytechnic State University - San Luis Obispo is a public institution. Cal Poly San Luis Obispo is located in a safe and convenient suburb.

What Is California Polytechnic State University - San Luis Obispo Known For?

4,987 Undergraduate Awards
$37,050 Avg Cost After Aid
30% Acceptance Rate
  • Although it may not be available for every major, the master's degree is the highest award a student can attain at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo.
  • For the 2021-2022 academic year, 68% of the faculty were full-time.
  • Students who graduate from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo with a bachelor's degree make about $85,801 a year. That's 110% more than those who graduate from other schools.

Where Is California Polytechnic State University - San Luis Obispo?

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Contact details for Cal Poly San Luis Obispo are given below.

Contact Details
Address: 1 Grand Ave., San Luis Obispo, CA 93407
Phone: 805-756-1111
Website: calpoly.edu
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CaliforniaPolytechnic
Twitter: https://twitter.com/calpoly

How Do I Get Into Cal Poly San Luis Obispo?

You can apply to Cal Poly San Luis Obispo online at: www2.calstate.edu/apply

Admission Requirements for Cal Poly San Luis Obispo

Submission Required?
High School GPA 1
High School Rank 3
High School Transcript 1
College Prep Program 1
Recommendations 3
SAT or ACT Scores 3
TOEFL 1

How Hard Is It To Get Into Cal Poly San Luis Obispo?

30% Acceptance Rate
58% Of Accepted Are Women
Cal Poly San Luis Obispo has a fairly low acceptance rate of 30%, which makes it more selective than most schools. Take time to make sure you submit all the requested materials and you prepare the application in full. You don't want to get denied right off the bat due to an incomplete application!

Approximately 42% of accepted students are men and 58% are women. The acceptance rate for men is 25%, and the acceptance rate for women is 36%.

Can I Afford California Polytechnic State University - San Luis Obispo?

$37,050 Net Price
25% Take Out Loans
The overall average net price of Cal Poly San Luis Obispo is $37,050. The affordability of the school largely depends on your financial need since net price varies by income group.

The net price is calculated by adding tuition, room, board and other costs and subtracting financial aid.

Student Loan Debt

It's not uncommon for college students to take out loans to pay for school. In fact, almost 66% of students nationwide depend at least partially on loans. At Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, approximately 25% of students took out student loans averaging $6,032 a year. That adds up to $24,128 over four years for those students.

California Polytechnic State University - San Luis Obispo Undergraduate Student Diversity

19,960 Full-Time Undergraduates
49% Women
42% Racial-Ethnic Minorities*
There are 21,128 undergraduate students at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, with 19,960 being full-time and 1,168 being part-time.

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There are also 1,103 graduate students at the school.

Gender Diversity

Of the 19,960 full-time undergraduates at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, 51% are male and 49% are female.

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Racial-Ethnic Diversity

The racial-ethnic breakdown of California Polytechnic State University - San Luis Obispo students is as follows.

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Race/Ethnicity Number of Grads
Asian 2,716
Black or African American 135
Hispanic or Latino 3,856
White 10,608
International Students 431
Other Races/Ethnicities 2,214

Geographic Diversity

California students aren't the only ones who study at California Polytechnic State University - San Luis Obispo. At this time, 40 states are represented by the student population at the school.

Over 70 countries are represented at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. The most popular countries sending students to the school are China, India, and South Korea.

Online Learning at California Polytechnic State University - San Luis Obispo

151 Took All Classes Online
8,089 Took At Least One Class Online
In 2022-2023, 8,089 students took at least one online class at the school.

The following chart shows how the online learning population at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo has changed over the last few years.

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California Polytechnic State University - San Luis Obispo Undergraduate Concentrations

The table below shows the number of awards for each concentration.

Major Bachelor’s Graduate Certificate Master’s TOTAL
Business Administration & Management 753 0 44 797
Mechanical Engineering 272 0 55 327
Computer Science 163 0 37 200
Architectural Sciences & Technology 180 0 0 180
Civil Engineering 130 0 45 175
General Psychology 156 0 16 172
General Biology 160 0 10 170
Electrical Engineering 136 0 31 167
Animal Science 165 0 0 165
Computer Engineering 158 0 0 158
Biomedical Engineering 104 0 29 133
Natural Resource Management 127 0 0 127
Construction Management 123 0 0 123
Aerospace & Aeronautical Engineering 106 0 15 121
Agricultural Economics & Business 120 0 0 120
Food Science Technology 101 0 7 108
Liberal Arts General Studies 107 0 0 107
Parks, Recreation & Leisure Studies 95 0 0 95
Political Science & Government 95 0 0 95
Industrial Engineering 72 0 13 85
Graphic Communications 83 0 0 83
Nutrition Science 74 0 6 80
Communication & Media Studies 77 0 0 77
Mathematics 62 0 14 76
Health & Physical Education 75 0 0 75
Economics 53 0 21 74
Sociology 64 0 0 64
General English Literature 60 0 2 62
History 60 0 2 62
Public Health 60 0 0 60
Journalism 58 0 0 58
Teacher Education Grade Specific 57 0 0 57
Fine & Studio Arts 54 0 0 54
Industrial Production Technology 52 0 0 52
Urban & Regional Planning 36 0 15 51
Physics 51 0 0 51
Plant Sciences 49 0 0 49
Materials Engineering 48 0 0 48
Management Sciences & Quantitative Methods 0 0 45 45
Teacher Education Subject Specific 0 0 44 44
General Agriculture 28 0 15 43
Architectural Engineering 39 0 2 41
Statistics 41 0 0 41
Agricultural Mechanization 40 0 0 40
Forestry 39 0 1 40
Biochemistry, Biophysics & Molecular Biology 39 0 0 39
Other Social Sciences 39 0 0 39
Philosophy 35 0 0 35
Agricultural Public Services 32 0 0 32
Environmental Engineering 29 0 0 29
Chemistry 26 0 3 29
Landscape Architecture 27 0 0 27
Engineering-Related Fields 0 0 26 26
Other Multi/Interdisciplinary Studies 26 0 0 26
Manufacturing Engineering 23 0 0 23
Geological & Earth Sciences 23 0 0 23
Educational Administration 0 0 21 21
Ethnic Studies 20 0 0 20
Special Education 0 0 18 18
Agricultural Engineering 18 0 0 18
Natural Resources Conservation 0 0 18 18
Student Counseling 0 0 17 17
Microbiological Sciences & Immunology 16 0 0 16
Curriculum & Instruction 0 0 14 14
Public Policy 0 0 13 13
Taxation 0 0 12 12
Marine Science 12 0 0 12
Music 12 0 0 12
Fire Protection 0 0 10 10
Drama & Theater Arts 10 0 0 10
Engineering Science 7 0 0 7
Romance Languages 7 0 0 7
General Architecture 0 0 5 5
Accounting 0 0 2 2
General Engineering 0 0 2 2
Other Engineering 0 2 0 2
Linguistics & Comparative Literature 2 0 0 2
Horticulture 1 0 0 1
Soil Sciences 0 0 0 0
General Education 0 0 0 0
Construction Engineering 0 0 0 0
Writing Studies 0 0 0 0
Human Development & Family Studies 0 0 0 0
Dietetics & Clinical Nutrition Services 0 0 0 0
General Social Sciences 0 0 0 0
Public Administration 0 0 0 0
TOTAL 4,987 2 630 5,619

References

*The racial-ethnic minorities count is calculated by taking the total number of students and subtracting white students, international students, and students whose race/ethnicity was unknown. This number is then divided by the total number of students at the school to obtain the racial-ethnic minorities percentage.

More about our data sources and methodologies.

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