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Common Data Set 2025-2026

California Polytechnic State University-San Luis Obispo

CA · Public · ~22,300 undergraduates

View California Polytechnic State University-San Luis Obispo's complete Common Data Set on CollegeNumbers
Acceptance rate · 2025-2026
30.0%

California Polytechnic State University-San Luis Obispo's admit rate has fallen 14.8 percentage points across the 24 reported years on file.

SAT · 50th
1330
Range 1240–1420
6-yr grad
87.3%
Retention 95.0%
Undergrads
22,313
19:1 student-faculty
Drawn directly from California Polytechnic State University-San Luis Obispo's officially-published 2025-2026 Common Data Set. View source →
California Polytechnic State University-San Luis Obispo Admission

At a glance

The headline numbers, drawn from CDS sections A–H.

Admit rate30.0% SAT (50th)1,330 ACT (50th)31 Undergraduates22,313 6-yr graduation87.3% Retention95.0% Tuition (FT)$20,968 Student–faculty ratio19:1

Recent years

Per-cycle Common Data Set values. Enrolled is first-year matriculants (CDS B1), not total undergraduate population. Blank cells mean the field was not published in that year's source CDS.

YearAdmit rateEnrolled6-yr gradRetentionSAT (50th)
2025-202630.0%5,45687.3%95.0%1,330
2024-20252
2023-20242
2022-202330.3%5,11187.0%93.6%1,337
2021-202233.0%4,88487.1%94.7%

Schools also worth looking at

Cross-admits and statistical look-alikes, surfaced from the CollegeNumbers peer model.

What the data says about California Polytechnic State University-San Luis Obispo

Comparative observations derived from this school's reported CDS values and from IPEDS / College Scorecard reference data. Every claim is grounded in a number — no editorial overlay.

01

Cross-admit cohort spans an unusually wide selectivity range.

The schools California Polytechnic State University-San Luis Obispo applicants most commonly also apply to range from 9.4% admit to 80.4% admit — a 71.0 pp band. A reasonable read: applicants choose by region or program fit rather than selectivity tier alone.

02

Six-year graduation rate exceeds the national median by 31 percentage points.

California Polytechnic State University-San Luis Obispo's 87.3% six-year graduation rate exceeds the national 4-year-institution median of 56.3% (per IPEDS, n=1555) by 31.0 pp.

03

Cross-admits concentrated in the home region.

6 of 6 cross-admit schools are in CA — California Polytechnic State University-San Luis Obispo draws applicants weighing it against in-state and adjacent-state alternatives, not coastal or selective national peers.

04

First-year retention is among the highest in the index.

California Polytechnic State University-San Luis Obispo's 95.0% first-year retention exceeds the national 4-year-institution median of 76.8% by 18.2 pp — a strong signal of student-institution fit at intake.

Sources: each school's officially-published Common Data Set; IPEDS / College Scorecard for federal comparisons. Methodology →

See California Polytechnic State University-San Luis Obispo next to peer schools

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Methodology

The Common Data Set is a standardized reporting form U.S. colleges file annually — sections A through J covering admissions selectivity, enrollment, aid, faculty resources, and outcomes. CollegeNumbers extracts every value directly from each school's officially published CDS PDF, xlsx, docx, or HTML, then normalizes into a unified schema.

Federal data layers — College Scorecard, EADA athletics, Clery campus safety, FSA financial responsibility — are joined on top. Every value traces back to its primary source. All covered schools →