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🎓 College profile

California State Polytechnic University-Pomona

CA · Public · Large suburb · 45,775 applicants 2023

74% admit rate $20,716/yr at $110k+ income

🧭 A parent's read

  • The major moves the money more than the admit letter. Aerospace, Aeronautical, and Astronautical grads from here earn about $106,171 four years out; anthropology grads about $37,443 — 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 8× over a decade. With no aid at all — the full in-state ~$23,955/yr — a decade of median earnings (~$71,902/yr) still runs about 8× the four-year cost. This payoff doesn't depend on qualifying for anything. (Out-of-state costs more.)

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

Get your child's odds at California State Polytechnic University-Pomona Free Family Decision Report — Reach / Match / Likely + your real net price. California State Polytechnic University-Pomona starts already on the list. Start →

🎯 Parent/student verdict

Likely

Accessible for most applicants. Affordable for in-state families — net price averages ~$11,531/yr. Major value play for in-state residents.

✅ Best for

  • In-state residents (tuition ~$7,780 — major value play)
  • Students focused on Business, Management, & Marketing (the school's signature program)
  • Students who thrive in a large, programmatic environment

🎯 The reality

  • Bottom-quartile academic profile if: unweighted GPA below 3.50 (admitted-class quartiles per the school's own data)
  • Out-of-state tuition is 2.6× the in-state rate

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

🏛️ Institutional snapshot

What kind of college is this?

Carnegie classification
M1: Master's - Larger Programs
Total enrollment
25,042
20,000 and above
In-state tuitionThe published full price before any aid. Families who don't qualify for need-based aid — common above ~$110K income — pay this, minus any merit scholarships.
$7,780
sticker, before aid
Out-of-state tuition
$20,380
+$12,600 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.
73.7%
Accessible
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.
$71,902
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

3.70 average · 3.5–4 typical range

GPA (4.0 scale), enrolled first-year students (Fall 2025 (CDS 2025-2026)). Cal Poly Pomona 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.

📊 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
$54,466
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.
$71,902
4-year completionThe share of students who finish a bachelor's in four years. Nationally barely half do — and a fifth year quietly adds a full extra year of cost to the real price.
68%
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."
$16,000

💰 The real cost

What families at your income actually pay

Above $110K income — where most Reach families sit — aid-receiving families average $20,716/yr at California State Polytechnic University-Pomona; families who don't qualify for aid pay the full ~$23,955/yr. Lower brackets pay less — the full ladder is below. One caveat, once: every bracket figure here averages only the families in that bracket who received aid — it says nothing about whether your family will qualify.

🔎 Earning over $110K? You're above the top federal bracket — the median family headed by a 45-to-54-year-old (the prime college-parent years) earned about $134K in 2024, and the federal data lumps everyone from $110K to $1M+ into one row.

Whether you'll get need aidGrant money based on your family's finances (via FAFSA and the college's own forms), not your student's stats. at this income is entirely college-specific: a few heavily-endowed schools meet full need well past $150K, while many others give little above the brackets shown — there, merit scholarships, where offered, become the realistic lever.

Start your Family Decision Report →

Your odds + estimated net price across your whole college list — then confirm the exact figure with California State Polytechnic University-Pomona's own Net Price Calculator ↗ (10–15 min; have your tax return handy).

Family income $110k+ most Reach families
$20,716/yr
Family income $75-110k
$13,894/yr
Family income $48-75k
$10,734/yr
Family income $30-48k
$8,433/yr
Family income $0-30k
$7,851/yr

📈 The payoffTen years of typical earnings divided by four years of cost. A 3× means a decade of median pay covers the cost three times over — check both the full-price and with-aid versions to see which applies to you., both ways

7.5× at full price 15.6× 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)
$95,820
~$23,955/yr all-in (out-of-state runs higher)
Aid recipients pay (4 yrs)
$46,124
$11,531/yr average
10-yr earnings total
$719,020
$71,902/yr median, 10 yrs out
Years to recoup the cost
1.3 yrs
at full price (0.6 with aid), at the median earnings rate

Source: College Scorecard (NPT41–NPT45; Title IV first-time, full-time undergraduates; suppressed brackets = small cohorts; the $110K+ ceiling is a federal data limitation — the brackets haven't been refreshed since the early 2010s). Payoff multiple = (10-yr median earnings × 10) ÷ (4-yr cost); 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 California State Polytechnic University-Pomona

Top 5 fields of study by bachelor's degrees awarded (most recent IPEDS Completions). Use this to see what California State Polytechnic University-Pomona actually graduates — not just what it markets.

1. Business, Management, & Marketing
1,728 degrees · 43.6%
Broad set of corporate roles. Finance + consulting pay top, accounting + HR pay middle, sales spread is wide.
2. Engineering
1,056 degrees · 26.6%
Engineering majors land high-paying technical roles. Top-earning sub-disciplines: petroleum, chemical, computer engineering.
3. Social Sciences
547 degrees · 13.8%
Economics + poli sci sub-disciplines pay much more than sociology + anthropology.
4. Psychology
360 degrees · 9.1%
Most undergrad psych grads go into non-clinical roles. Clinical/counseling psych requires a master's or doctoral.
5. Biological & Biomedical Sciences
275 degrees · 6.9%
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 — California State Polytechnic University-Pomona's own graduates, not national averages.

Major (CIP) Credential Cohort 1-yr earnings 4-yr earnings
Aerospace, Aeronautical, and Astronautical/Space Engineering. Bachelor's Degree 163 $78,320 $106,171
Construction Engineering Technology/Technician. Bachelor's Degree 55 $87,960 $105,812
Electrical, Electronics, and Communications Engineering. Bachelor's Degree 108 $80,827 $103,924
Computer Science. Bachelor's Degree 202 $60,740 $103,494
Chemical Engineering. Bachelor's Degree 91 $69,009 $102,849
Computer Engineering. Bachelor's Degree 97 $70,768 $100,673
Mechanical Engineering. Bachelor's Degree 276 $75,040 $99,148
Civil Engineering. Bachelor's Degree 277 $75,758 $97,790
Industrial Engineering. Bachelor's Degree 55 $75,110 $95,835
Manufacturing Engineering. Bachelor's Degree 46 $79,549 $93,042

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. Why it matters even if you're full-pay: a high mobility rate means the campus itself confers earnings power — the outcomes aren't just selection effects.

Top-1% access
0.7%
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.
6.8%
bottom 20% → top 20% by age 32
Upward rate
45.8%
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.
46%
on federal need grants — context for these numbers

Full leaderboards: /college-mobility →

🤖 AI program signal

AI + computing education at California State Polytechnic University-Pomona

CS degrees (annual)
299
CIP 11.0701 + 11.0101

Full multi-lens comparison: /ai-colleges →

Alternatives to California State Polytechnic University-Pomona

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.
University of Alabama in Huntsville
AL · Public
39 stats-based merit scholarships
Texas Tech University
TX · Public
30 stats-based + 1 competitive scholarships
The University of Alabama
AL · Public
21 stats-based + 2 competitive 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.
Indiana University-Kokomo
IN · Public
$11,837/yr full price (in-state) · $12,118 less before aid
Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College
GA · Public
$13,956/yr full price (in-state) · $9,999 less before aid
Indiana University-Northwest
IN · Public
$13,989/yr full price (in-state) · $9,966 less before aid
🛡️ Safer in-state options
Same state and similar selectivity, but with a more forgiving admit rate — useful safety / match anchors.
California State University-Fullerton
CA · Public
87% admit rate (vs 74% here)
California State University-Bakersfield
CA · Public
88% admit rate (vs 74% here)
California State University-Dominguez Hills
CA · Public
91% admit rate (vs 74% here)
🚀 Stronger campus value-add
Per Opportunity Insights, these campuses add more earnings power to the students they enroll than California State Polytechnic University-Pomona does — a quality signal, not a cost play.
Pace University
NY · Private nonprofit
8.4% mobility rate (vs 6.8% here)
CUNY New York City College of Technology
NY · Public
8.3% mobility rate (vs 6.8% here)
The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley
TX · Public
7.7% mobility rate (vs 6.8% here)

⚖️ Or compare any college side-by-side

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