Home › Colleges › Cal Poly San Luis Obispo

College profile

Cal Poly San Luis Obispo

Listed in federal data as “California Polytechnic State University-San Luis Obispo”.

CA · Public · Small suburb · 63,736 applicants 2023

30% admit rate $17K–$32K/yr in-state — aid decides

A parent's read

  • The major moves the money more than the admit letter. Computer Science grads from here earn about $154,784 four years out; animal sciences grads about $54,805 — a 2.8× spread on the same diploma. Have the major conversation before you deposit, not after.
  • The payoff holds even at full price: roughly 7× over a decade. With no aid at all — the full in-state ~$32,265/yr — a decade of median earnings (~$90,768/yr) still runs about 7× the four-year cost. This payoff doesn't depend on qualifying for anything. (Out-of-state costs more.)
  • Almost everyone who starts here finishes. 86% graduate within six years — the standard federal measure. Nationally about a third of students who start a bachelor's never finish one, and an unfinished degree is the most expensive outcome in this decision: the debt stays, the credential doesn't.
  • The campus itself adds earnings power. Opportunity Insights tracks it: only about 4% of students arrive from the bottom income fifth, but those who do reach the top fifth by their 30s at a 54% rate — a strong sign the outcomes here are the campus, not just the intake.

Composed from this page's data — every claim is backed by a number in the sections below.

Get your child's odds at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo Free Family Decision Report — Reach / Competitive / Match / Likely + your real net price. Cal Poly San Luis Obispo starts already on the list. Start →
Odds at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo

Put in your child's GPA and score — we'll show where they land here. Free, and nothing to sign up for.

Most families report the weighted one — it's the higher number, with honors and AP credit in it.

—

This reads the numbers — admit rate, scores, GPA. The real decision also weighs essays, recommendations, activities, and course rigor.

Get their full list — free Family Decision Report →

The free report adds every college on your list — Reach / Competitive / Match / Likely odds, your real net price, and merit-scholarship eligibility. About a minute.

Live odds from each college's own published admissions data.

Parent/student verdict

Selective

Selective but achievable for strong students. Affordable — net price averages ~$16,665/yr among aid recipients. Major value play for in-state residents.

Best for

  • Strong overall academic profile (3.9+ unweighted GPA in rigorous coursework + strong essays — school is test-blind, so scores aren't part of the decision at all — the transcript carries the weight)
  • In-state residents (tuition ~$13,596 — major value play)
  • Students drawn to Engineering or Business, Management, & Marketing (the two biggest majors)

The reality

  • Test-blind — scores aren't considered at all, so transcript GPA, course rigor, and essays do all the work
  • With selective universities, build a balanced college list of Reaches, Targets, and Safeties ⓘ
  • Out-of-state tuition is 2.5× the in-state rate

Verdict is composed from this college's structured data (admit rate, SAT bands, net price with aid and at full price, Carnegie classification, scholarship grids) using transparent rule thresholds — not a chat-bot's opinion.

What are your child's odds here?

Enter their numbers once — this and every college page shows their verdict, and the UC campus cards on California school pages light up with it too. Free, no email.

Weighted is the higher GPA, with honors/AP credit in it — pick whichever your school reports. PSAT scores work in the SAT box.

Institutional snapshot

What kind of college is this?

Carnegie classification
M1: Master's - Larger Programs
Undergraduates
21,996
20,000 and above including graduate students
In-state tuitionThe published full price before any aid. Families who don't qualify for need-based aid at a given college pay this, minus any merit scholarships — whether you qualify depends on the college's price and policies, not on any fixed income line.
$13,596
sticker, before aid
Out-of-state tuition
$34,665
+$21,069 vs in-state
Admit rateThe share of applicants a college accepts. Useful context, but your student's odds depend on their own grades and scores, not the average.
29.8%
Selective
Test policyScores aren't considered at all, even if sent — the UCs are the big example. Grades and course rigor carry the weight.
Test-blind
2023
10-yr earningsMedian yearly pay of former students ten years after they STARTED here — not ten years after graduating — all majors combined. The broadest single outcome number a college reports.
$90,768
median, after entry

Source: federal IPEDS Admissions 2023 for scores + admit rate; federal College Scorecard (20260606 vintage) for earnings + outcomes. SAT/ACT bands are the 25th–75th percentile of enrolled submitters.

Admitted-student GPA

4.04–4.25 typical range

capped weighted — Cal Poly counts the 9th-11th grade weighted GPA from college-prep coursework, with honors/AP/IB weight for up to eight semesters, admitted first-year students (2025). Cal Poly San Luis Obispo is an impacted (selective) campus — admission is competitive and can vary sharply by major. Cal State is test-blind (no SAT/ACT in admissions), so the a–g GPA is the key academic signal. Source ↗

CSU first-year GPA — verified 2026-06-15 against the campus's official Common Data Set / admissions data. The GPA basis (a–g vs. weighted vs. 4.0-scale) differs from the unweighted GPA shown for private colleges.

Admit rate by major — Fall 2025

The headline admit rate hides a wide spread by program.

First-time freshman applications and admits by major, from the CSU Chancellor's Office. Campus overall: 30%. Every program at this campus is impactedA CSU term: the program gets more qualified applicants than it has seats, so the campus adds admission requirements beyond the CSU minimum — a higher GPA bar, specific courses, or priority for local students. Treat impacted majors as more competitive than the campus's overall admit rate suggests. — the campus adds admission requirements beyond the CSU minimum to every major.

Major Applicants Admitted Admit rate
Fall 2025		 Earlier year
for comparison
Business Administration 8,836 2,373 26.9% Fall 2021: 28.7% ↓
Biology 5,323 1,311 24.6% Fall 2021: 28.2% ↓
Mechanical Engineering 4,953 657 13.3% Fall 2021: 22.7% ↓
Computer Science 4,090 1,085 26.5% Fall 2021: 20.7% ↑
Psychology 3,732 486 13.0% Fall 2021: 14.7% ↓
Aerospace Engineering 2,399 289 12.0% Fall 2021: 15.5% ↓
Architecture 2,239 415 18.5% Fall 2021: 25.6% ↓
Kinesiology/Physical Education 2,162 262 12.1% Fall 2021: 14.7% ↓
Political Science/Government 2,113 734 34.7% Fall 2021: 33.9%
Biomedical Engineering 2,015 592 29.4% Fall 2021: 34.6% ↓
Electrical Engineering 1,996 719 36.0% Fall 2021: 53.7% ↓
Civil Engineering 1,833 507 27.7% Fall 2021: 33.8% ↓
Animal Science 1,831 616 33.6% Fall 2021: 46.1% ↓
Biochemistry 1,709 602 35.2% Fall 2021: 40.2% ↓
Economics 1,665 539 32.4% Fall 2021: 30.8% ↑
Public Health 1,519 471 31.0% Fall 2021: 39.4% ↓
Computer Engineering 1,474 435 29.5% Fall 2021: 28.6%
Speech Communication 1,083 311 28.7% Fall 2021: 41.5% ↓
Sociology 949 282 29.7% Fall 2021: 37.1% ↓
Mathematics 885 518 58.5% Fall 2021: 66.9% ↓
Child Development/Early Childhood Education 842 196 23.3% Fall 2021: 24.6% ↓
Chemistry 840 361 43.0% Fall 2021: 48.7% ↓
Agricultural Business 795 312 39.2% Fall 2021: 58.7% ↓
Land Resource Management 764 272 35.6% Fall 2021: 46.9% ↓
Construction Engineering 712 190 26.7% Fall 2021: 43.8% ↓
Art (Studio/Professional Performance) 635 159 25.0% Fall 2021: 19.0% ↑
Dietetics & Food Administration/Nutritional Science 633 296 46.8% Fall 2021: 66.3% ↓
Marine Science 630 137 21.7% Fall 2021: 20.2% ↑
Environmental Engineering 628 246 39.2% Fall 2021: 35.0% ↑
English 617 393 63.7% Fall 2021: 76.5% ↓
Diversified Studies/Education 587 294 50.1% Fall 2021: 41.4% ↑
History 581 323 55.6% Fall 2021: 58.2% ↓
Microbiology 562 210 37.4% Fall 2021: 43.1% ↓
Engineering Science 541 209 38.6% Fall 2021: 40.3% ↓
Software Engineering 539 124 23.0% Fall 2021: 18.0% ↑
Forestry 537 151 28.1% Fall 2021: 32.0% ↓
Architectural Engineering 537 205 38.2% Fall 2021: 40.8% ↓
Statistics 531 298 56.1% Fall 2021: 64.2% ↓
Physics 529 321 60.7% Fall 2021: 64.2% ↓
Journalism 515 338 65.6% Fall 2021: 64.9%
Recreation Administration 443 174 39.3% Fall 2021: 62.0% ↓
Industrial Engineering 439 187 42.6% Fall 2021: 72.4% ↓
Graphic Communications 431 216 50.1% Fall 2021: 46.6% ↑
Earth Sciences 426 271 63.6% Fall 2021: 71.4% ↓
Materials Engineering 359 167 46.5% Fall 2021: 77.6% ↓
Industrial Technology 312 115 36.9% Fall 2021: 67.2% ↓
Anthropology and Geography 276 133 48.2% Fall 2021: 59.5% ↓
Food Science 271 174 64.2% Fall 2021: 74.6% ↓
Agronomy/Crop Science 263 149 56.7% Fall 2021: 57.8% ↓
Philosophy 257 160 62.3% Fall 2021: 72.5% ↓
Interdisciplinary Studies/Special Major 255 124 48.6% Fall 2021: 42.7% ↑
Viticulture 247 149 60.3% Fall 2021: 46.6% ↑
Agricultural Engineering 209 121 57.9% Fall 2021: 61.9% ↓
Agricultural Communication 202 106 52.5% Fall 2021: 59.1% ↓
Agriculture 192 105 54.7% Fall 2021: 49.5% ↑
Landscape Architecture 188 117 62.2% Fall 2021: 69.6% ↓
City and Regional Planning 184 128 69.6% Fall 2021: 67.8% ↑
Theatre Arts 177 110 62.1% Fall 2021: 59.8% ↑
Music 170 58 34.1% Fall 2021: 30.0% ↑
Agricultural Systems Management 156 50 32.1% Fall 2021: 34.0% ↓
Manufacturing Engineering 125 63 50.4% Fall 2021: 55.4% ↓
Gender/Ethnic/Women's Studies 100 62 62.0% Fall 2021: 64.9% ↓
Spanish 73 38 52.1% Fall 2021: 42.2% ↑
Dairy Science 69 27 39.1% Fall 2021: 33.3% ↑

Source: CSU Chancellor's Office ↗, applications & admissions by discipline and major (Fall 2021–2025); impaction status from the CSU impacted-programs list (2027-28 cycle). Groups smaller than 10 are suppressed by CSU. A rising admit rate usually means fewer applications, not lower standards.

Outcomes & cost

What graduates actually earn, finish, and owe.

Federal College Scorecard data. Earnings are median annual income measured years after entering. Debt is for federal-aid borrowers only (cash-pay students aren't counted).

Earnings, 6 yrs after entry
$72,358
Earnings, 10 yrs after entryMedian yearly pay of former students ten years after they STARTED here — not ten years after graduating — all majors combined. The broadest single outcome number a college reports.
$90,768
Graduate within 6 yrsThe share of students who start here and finish a bachelor's within six years — the standard federal measure, and the one College Scorecard publishes. It is not a four-year rate. Read it as the odds of finishing at all: nationally about a third of students who start never do, and an unfinished degree is the most expensive outcome in this decision.
86%
Median debt (completers)The federal-loan balance of the typical graduating borrower. Families who pay cash aren't counted, so read it as "among those who borrowed."
$18,500

The real cost

What Cal Poly San Luis Obispo actually costs

If you qualify for need aidGrant money based on your family's finances (via FAFSA and the college's own forms), not your student's stats.
$16,665/yr
average among aid-receiving families, all incomes — your number depends on your finances
If you don't
$32,265/yr
the full published price for in-state students — out-of-state runs higher

Which side your family lands on isn't set by any national income line — it's set by Cal Poly San Luis Obispo's own aid decision: the gap between its price and your family's finances.

Get your family's number — Cal Poly San Luis Obispo's Net Price Calculator ↗ 10–15 minutes; have a tax return handy. It's still an estimate — but it's this college's own, built from your family's numbers, not anyone's average.
Start your Family Decision Report →

Your odds + estimated cost across your whole college list, side by side.

The payoffTen years of typical graduate pay minus four years of cost — how many dollars ahead a typical graduate runs by year ten. Check both the full-price and with-aid versions to see which applies to you; median pay reflects who a college admits and what they study as much as the college itself., both ways

+$779K ahead at full price +$841K with aid
Full price, no aidThe all-in yearly price — tuition, housing, food, books, fees — before any aid. This is the real "full price," not just the tuition line. (4 yrs, in-state)
$129,060
~$32,265/yr all-in (out-of-state runs higher)
Aid recipients pay (4 yrs)
$66,660
$16,665/yr average
10-yr earnings total
$907,680
$90,768/yr median, 10 yrs out
Years to recoup the cost
1.4 yrs
at full price (0.7 with aid), at the median earnings rate

Source: College Scorecard (average net price among Title IV first-time, full-time undergraduates who received aid) and each college's published cost of attendance. We don't show the federal net-price-by-income brackets: their categories were fixed in 2008 and never adjusted, and none of the averages is your family's own number — the full story. Payoff = (10-yr median earnings × 10) − (4 years of cost), in dollars — how far ahead a typical graduate runs by year ten; medians travel with the students a college admits and the majors they choose as much as with the college itself. Full price is the published cost of attendance, largely in-state for publics; earnings are 10 years after enrollment, all majors combined.

What students study here

Most popular majors at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo

Top 5 fields of study by bachelor's degrees awarded (most recent IPEDS Completions). Use this to see what Cal Poly San Luis Obispo actually graduates — not just what it markets.

1. Engineering
1,148 degrees · 38.8%
Engineering majors land high-paying technical roles. Top-earning sub-disciplines: petroleum, chemical, computer engineering.
2. Business, Management, & Marketing
837 degrees · 28.3%
Broad set of corporate roles. Finance + consulting pay top, accounting + HR pay middle, sales spread is wide.
3. Agriculture
512 degrees · 17.3%
Farm management, food science, ag-business operations. Wide range based on path.
4. Social Sciences
243 degrees · 8.2%
Economics + poli sci sub-disciplines pay much more than sociology + anthropology.
5. Biological & Biomedical Sciences
221 degrees · 7.5%
Many bio majors → med school / grad school. Direct-employment bio roles are lower-paid than that pipeline.

What those majors earn here

Median earnings 4 years after entry, by major — Cal Poly San Luis Obispo's own graduates, not national averages.

Major (CIP) Credential Cohort 1-yr earnings 4-yr earnings
Computer Science. Bachelor's Degree 163 $111,141 $154,784
Computer Engineering. Bachelor's Degree 158 $111,560 $148,950
Electrical, Electronics, and Communications Engineering. Bachelor's Degree 136 $90,576 $125,240
Construction Management. Bachelor's Degree 123 $92,785 $118,331
Industrial Engineering. Bachelor's Degree 72 $87,226 $112,797
Business Administration, Management and Operations. Bachelor's Degree 753 $71,876 $110,902
Biomedical/Medical Engineering. Bachelor's Degree 104 $81,186 $109,232
Aerospace, Aeronautical, and Astronautical/Space Engineering. Bachelor's Degree 106 $85,509 $107,498
Mechanical Engineering. Bachelor's Degree 272 $83,011 $106,750
Environmental/Environmental Health Engineering. Bachelor's Degree 29 $82,197 $102,702

Sources: IPEDS Completions (C2023_a; bachelor's-level first majors, 2-digit CIP family — share is of the top 5 only) · College Scorecard program-level outcomes (PP-FOS). Full college-vs-major comparison: /college-outcomes →

Student body & economic mobility

Who attends here — and what the campus adds.

Opportunity Insights data. It measures two things at once: how many lower-income students a college enrols, and how many of them reach the top earnings quintile later. A high rate says the college does both — it does not establish that the campus caused the earnings, because the students it admits differ from the students it doesn't. Read it as a signal about access and destination, not as proof of value added.

Top-1% access
3.1%
from top-1% households
Mobility rateThe share of ALL students who arrived from the bottom 20% of family incomes AND reached the top 20% themselves by their early 30s — access and lift in one number, and a sign the campus itself adds earnings power.
2.2%
bottom 20% → top 20% by age 32
Upward rate
53.6%
of lower-income students who reach the top 20%
Pell recipientsStudents receiving federal Pell grants, which go to lower- and middle-income families — the standard shorthand for a college's economic mix.
19%
on federal need grants — context for these numbers

Full leaderboards: /college-mobility →

AI program signal

AI + computing education at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo

CS degrees (annual)
233
CIP 11.0701 + 11.0101

Full multi-lens comparison: /ai-colleges →

Alternatives to Cal Poly San Luis Obispo

Matched not just by selectivity, but by strategic goal — what a family actually decides on.

Better merit-aid options
These similar-selectivity schools publish merit scholarships your family can plan around — your kid’s stats could unlock real scholarship dollars.
Tuskegee University
AL · Private nonprofit
3 stats-based merit scholarships
University of Miami
FL · Private nonprofit
3 competitive merit scholarships
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
NC · Public
3 competitive merit scholarships
Lower full price
Similar selectivity, but a meaningfully lower full sticker price — the comparison that matters most for families who won't qualify for much need-based aid.
University of Florida
FL · Public
$22,523/yr full price (in-state) · $9,742 less before aid for FL residents
University of South Florida
FL · Public
$22,859/yr full price (in-state) · $9,406 less before aid for FL residents
University of Central Florida
FL · Public
$23,133/yr full price (in-state) · $9,132 less before aid for FL residents
Safer in-state options
Same state and similar selectivity, but with a more forgiving admit rate — useful safety / match anchors.
University of California-Santa Barbara
CA · Public
44% admit rate (vs 30% here)
University of California-Davis
CA · Public
46% admit rate (vs 30% here)
California State University-Long Beach
CA · Public
47% admit rate (vs 30% here)
More students move up here
Per Opportunity Insights, a larger share of these campuses' lower-income students reach the top earnings quintile than at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. That reflects who they admit as well as what they do, so read it as a destination signal rather than proof of value added.
University of California-Irvine
CA · Public
6.8% mobility rate (vs 2.2% here)
Tuskegee University
AL · Private nonprofit
5.2% mobility rate (vs 2.2% here)
Binghamton University
NY · Public
5.1% mobility rate (vs 2.2% here)

Or compare any college side-by-side

Deciding on Cal Poly San Luis Obispo?

Get the full picture in one free report — your child's Reach / Competitive / Match / Likely odds and your real net price, for Cal Poly San Luis Obispo and every other college on your list.

Get your child's odds at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo →

Score-odds calculator · Improve the score first · Find merit aid

Feeder high schools

Which high schools send graduates to Cal Poly San Luis Obispo?

Enrolled — from the schools' matriculation lists

62 high schools publish a numbered matriculation list — where their graduates actually enrolled, counted, in the school's own School Profile — and name Cal Poly San Luis Obispo on it. Between them they printed 297 enrolled graduates. Ranked by graduates per class year enrolling at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, from each school's own published list: the number that school printed, divided by the class years its list covers. The published total and the school's own years label are shown beside every school, so a one-year list and a five-year list can sit on the same page. A list whose class years we cannot read is not divided by a guess — it is listed below with its total instead.

High school · years its list covers Enrolled per class year
Saint Francis Catholic High School · Class of 2025 11.0 · 11 over 1 class year
Santa Margarita Catholic High School · Class of 2025 10.0 · 10 over 1 class year
Punahou School · the past four years (2022 – 2025) As published 9.0 · 36 over 4 class years
Marin Academy · CLASSES OF 2023–2025 6.0 · 18 over 3 class years
Loyola High School · 2020-24 5.8 · 29 over 5 class years
Francis Parker School · 2022-2025 5.2 · 21 over 4 class years
Valley Christian High School · Class of 2024 & 2025 5.0 · 10 over 2 class years
Stevenson School · Class of 2024 As published 4.0 · 4 over 1 class year
Lick Wilmerding High School · past four years 3.8 · 15 over 4 class years
The International School of San Francisco · Class of 2026 3.0 · 3 over 1 class year
and 52 more
Sage Hill School · 2023-2025 2.0 · 6 over 3 class years
Saint Joseph-Notre Dame High School · Class of 2026 2.0 · 2 over 1 class year
Albuquerque Academy · Classes of 2021-2024 1.8 · 7 over 4 class years
Colorado Academy · Classes 2022-2025 1.8 · 7 over 4 class years
Greenhill School · 2022 - 2025 1.8 · 7 over 4 class years
York School · Classes of 2021-2026 1.5 · 9 over 6 class years
Santa Catalina School · Classes of 2021-2025 1.4 · 7 over 5 class years
Crossroads School · classes of 2023-25 As published 1.3 · 4 over 3 class years
Harker School · Classes of 2023, 2024 & 2025 1.3 · 4 over 3 class years
Bentley School · College Matriculations 2022–2025 1.2 · 5 over 4 class years
Eastside Preparatory School · 2021-2025 1.0 · 5 over 5 class years
Head-Royce School · (2021–25) 1.0 · 5 over 5 class years
La Jolla Country Day School · 2023-2025 1.0 · 3 over 3 class years
Archer School for Girls · Class of '25 1.0 · 1 over 1 class year
Blair Academy · Class of 2026 1.0 · 1 over 1 class year
Bullis School · Class of 2026 1.0 · 1 over 1 class year
Chadwick School · Class of 2025 As published 1.0 · 1 over 1 class year
Falmouth Academy · Class of 2026 1.0 · 1 over 1 class year
Providence Day School · Class of 2026 1.0 · 1 over 1 class year
Regis High School (NYC) · Class of 2022–2025 · counted column: Class of '25 1.0 · 1 over 1 class year
Rowland Hall · Class of 2026 1.0 · 1 over 1 class year
Rowland Hall-St. Mark's School · Class of 2026 1.0 · 1 over 1 class year
St. Paul Academy and Summit School · Class of 2025 1.0 · 1 over 1 class year
Stevenson School - Pebble Beach Campus · Class of 2025 1.0 · 1 over 1 class year
The Madeira School · Class of 2026 1.0 · 1 over 1 class year
The Webb Schools · Class of 2024 1.0 · 1 over 1 class year
Cate School · 2019-2023 As published 0.8 · 4 over 5 class years
Charles Wright Academy · Class of 2021-2025 0.8 · 4 over 5 class years
St. Stephen's Episcopal School (Austin) · Classes of 2021-2025 0.8 · 4 over 5 class years
The John Cooper School · Class of 2022 - 2026 0.8 · 4 over 5 class years
Catlin Gabel School · last four years 0.8 · 3 over 4 class years
Menlo School · Classes of 2023-2025 As published 0.7 · 2 over 3 class years
Kamehameha Schools · the last seven years, 2017-2023 0.6 · 4 over 7 class years
Choate Rosemary Hall · Class of 2021-2025 As published 0.6 · 3 over 5 class years
Phoenix Country Day School · Classes of 2021-25 0.6 · 3 over 5 class years
Polytechnic School · Class of 2022-2026 0.6 · 3 over 5 class years
Santa Fe Preparatory School · 2022-2026 0.6 · 3 over 5 class years
Nightingale-Bamford School · 2022–2025 0.5 · 2 over 4 class years
Trinity Hall · Classes of 2022-2026 0.4 · 2 over 5 class years
The Bush School · 2020-2025 0.3 · 2 over 6 class years
St. Mark's School of Texas · Classes of 2023-2025 0.3 · 1 over 3 class years
The Hockaday School · 2024 – 2026 0.3 · 1 over 3 class years
Westridge School · 2021-2023 0.3 · 1 over 3 class years
Ysc Academy · 2015-2025 0.2 · 2 over 11 class years
Duchesne Academy of the Sacred Heart (Houston) · 2021 - 2024 0.2 · 1 over 4 class years
Fort Worth Country Day School · 2020-23 0.2 · 1 over 4 class years
Packer Collegiate Institute · 2021 - 2025 0.2 · 1 over 5 class years
Pingree School · 2021–2025 0.2 · 1 over 5 class years
San Francisco University High School · 2021-2025 0.2 · 1 over 5 class years
The Northwest School · classes of 2021-2025 0.2 · 1 over 5 class years
Vermont Academy · Matriculation List (2021-2026) 0.2 · 1 over 6 class years
Waynflete School · Five-Year Matriculation (2021–2025) 0.2 · 1 over 5 class years

Admitted — from the schools' acceptance lists

6 high schools publish a numbered list of college acceptances — where their graduates were admitted, not where they enrolled — and name Cal Poly San Luis Obispo on it. Between them they printed 69 admissions. Ranked by admissions per class year to Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, from each school's own published acceptances list: the number that school printed, divided by the class years its list covers. Admits are counted at each college a student was admitted to, the same way the UC Reach Score counts a student admitted to three UC campuses three times — so this is a count of admissions, not of students. The published total and the school's own years label are shown beside every school, and a list whose class years we cannot read is listed below with its total rather than divided by a guess.

High school · years its list covers Admitted per class year
Archbishop Mitty High School · Class of 2025 63.0 · 63 over 1 class year
Laguna Blanca School · Classes of 2022-2026 0.4 · 2 over 5 class years
National Cathedral School · 2023-2025 0.3 · 1 over 3 class years
Key School · 2021 - 2026 · counted column: Acceptances 2021–2026 0.2 · 1 over 6 class years
St Anselm'S Abbey School · 2022-2026 0.2 · 1 over 5 class years
The Altamont School · Classes of 2021-2025 0.2 · 1 over 5 class years

All 68 feeder schools, ranked →

Counted from each school's own published document, linked on that school's page. A high school that is not here does not publish a numbered list we could read — that is all absence means, and it says nothing about its graduates. Where a school publishes both, the two lists are shown separately: an acceptances list is not a list of enrollments, and the two are never added together.

Related reading

Nursing at NYU is harder to get into than Brown

College admissions · August 21, 2026

The Admit Rate You Looked Up Isn't the One Your Student Is Facing

CSU admissions · August 11, 2026

All stories from the data →

For Parents

Get alerts when Cal Poly San Luis Obispo's numbers change

New admit rates, costs, and outcomes — a few alerts a year, no spam. Your email also saves your list across devices.

Objective, government-grade data — no school pays us for placement.

At a glance

JSON · Using this page with an AI assistant

Cal Poly San Luis Obispo is a public four-year college in CA. It admitted 30% of applicants (63,736 applied, 2023). Test policy: Test-blind.

Average enrolled GPA 4.03 (weighted, 2025-26, as published by the college).

Cost: about $16,665 a year on average with aid, $32,265 a year at full price for in-state students.

Median earnings ten years after entry: $90,768 a year. Payoff, meaning ten years of that pay minus four years of cost: $841,020 ahead with aid, $778,620 ahead at full price.

Highest median earnings four years after the degree, by program: Computer Science ($154,784); Computer Engineering ($148,950); Electrical, Electronics, and Communications Engineering ($125,240).

First-year admit rate by major, Fall 2025: lowest Aerospace Engineering 12.0% (2,399 applied); highest City and Regional Planning 69.6% (184 applied). Every program at this campus is impacted, meaning more qualified applicants than seats.

Economic mobility (Opportunity Insights): 4% of students came from families in the bottom fifth of income, and 54% of those reached the top fifth as adults.

High schools that publish a numbered matriculation list and name Cal Poly San Luis Obispo: 62, 297 enrolled students between them — ranked by graduates per class year, most often Saint Francis Catholic High School (11.0 per class year, 11 over 1 class year, Class of 2025); Santa Margarita Catholic High School (10.0 per class year, 10 over 1 class year, Class of 2025); Punahou School (9.0 per class year, 36 over 4 class years, the past four years (2022 – 2025)). Each figure is the number that school printed divided by the class years its own list covers; the totals and years are shown. These are the schools that publish such a list, not every school that sends students; full list: https://highschoolreach.com/leaderboards/feeder-schools/california-polytechnic-state-university-san-luis-obispo.

High schools that publish a numbered list of college acceptances naming Cal Poly San Luis Obispo: 6, 69 admissions between them — ranked by admissions per class year, most often Archbishop Mitty High School (63.0 per class year, 63 over 1 class year, Class of 2025); Laguna Blanca School (0.4 per class year, 2 over 5 class years, Classes of 2022-2026); National Cathedral School (0.3 per class year, 1 over 3 class years, 2023-2025). Admits are counted at each college, so this counts admissions, not students. These are a different set of documents from the matriculation lists above and the two are never added together; full list: https://highschoolreach.com/leaderboards/feeder-schools/california-polytechnic-state-university-san-luis-obispo.

Machine-readable version of this page: https://highschoolreach.com/colleges/california-polytechnic-state-university-san-luis-obispo.json

By major: AccountingAerospace EngineeringAnimal ScienceAnthropologyArchitectureArt (Studio)BiochemistryBiologyBiomedical Engineering and BioengineeringBusiness AdministrationChemistryChild DevelopmentCivil EngineeringCommunicationComputer EngineeringComputer ScienceConstruction ManagementCriminal Justice and CriminologyDesign (graphic, interior, industrial)EconomicsElectrical EngineeringEnglishEnvironmental EngineeringEnvironmental ScienceHistoryIndustrial EngineeringJournalismKinesiologyLiberal Studies (teacher preparation)Marine BiologyMathematicsMechanical EngineeringMicrobiologyMusicNutrition and DieteticsPhilosophyPhysicsPolitical SciencePsychologyPublic HealthSociologyStatisticsTheatre
Get your child's odds →

What families ask next

Can my kid get in? Score odds calculator → See how a higher SAT or ACT changes admit odds — college by college. What will it cost — and pay back? Earnings by major → What graduates actually earn, program by program. What do we do next? Free Family Decision Report Reach / Competitive / Match / Likely for every college on their list, plus the real cost. Start with a 10-second odds check — no email needed. Check odds →