California Polytechnic State University-San Luis Obispo

California Polytechnic State University–San Luis Obispo (Cal Poly SLO) is a public university located in San Luis Obispo, California, with an enrollment of approximately 21,996 students. It is a selective institution: its 31.3% acceptance rate means that roughly one in three applicants is admitted. The university retains 95.6% of first-year students into their second year, and 86.4% of students go on to complete a credential.

In-state tuition is $13,596 per year, and out-of-state tuition is $34,665 per year. The average annual net price — the total estimated cost of attendance, including tuition, fees, and living expenses, after grant and scholarship aid is applied — is $16,665. This figure represents what students pay on average across all aid recipients, and reflects significant grant support relative to the full cost of attendance. About 19.2% of enrolled students receive Pell Grants, a federal aid program for lower-income students.

Among students who completed a credential, the median federal student loan debt is $18,500. Only 24.9% of all enrolled students take out federal loans, which is a relatively low share. Of those who did borrow, 86.7% are actively paying down their loan balances within three years of entering repayment — a figure known as the loan repayment rate.

Median earnings for Cal Poly SLO students are $90,768 per year, measured approximately ten years after initial enrollment. This figure covers all federally-aided students who enrolled at the institution, including those who did not complete a degree, so it reflects a broad population rather than graduates alone.

Cal Poly SLO offers programs in a range of technical and applied fields. Programs relevant to career-focused study on this site include biomedical engineering, environmental engineering, and urban planning, among other offerings across science, engineering, and technology disciplines.