Undergrad Programs Graduate Programs

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Engineering at California Polytechnic State University-San Luis Obispo

We’ve pulled together the essential facts you should know about the program at Cal Poly. Degrees are awarded at the Bachelor’s level, with graduate study also available. Its best result is a rank of #5 out of 43 schools (Bachelor’s level) by College Factual. Jump to any of the following sections:

• Available Degrees
• Bachelor’s Degrees
• Graduate Study

Engineering Degrees Available at Cal Poly

The following degree levels are available for engineering at Cal Poly, along with how many graduates complete each level annually.

Degree Level	Annual Graduates
Bachelor’s	1,061
Master’s	109
Graduate Certificate	1

Cal Poly Engineering Bachelor’s Degrees

For the most recent IPEDS reporting year, California Polytechnic State University-San Luis Obispo handed out 1,061 bachelor’s degrees in engineering.

Bachelor’s Rankings

Cal Poly ranks competitively among schools offering engineering at the bachelor’s level. In particular it placed #5 out of 43 schools by College Factual.

Ranking	Rank
Best Engineering Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California	5
Best Engineering Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the Far Western US Region	5
Best Engineering Bachelor’s Degree Schools	20
Best Value Engineering Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California	26
Best Value Engineering Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the Far Western US Region	33
Best Value Engineering Bachelor’s Degree Schools	98

Salary of Engineering Graduates with a Bachelor’s Degree

Engineering majors who earn their bachelor’s degree from Cal Poly earn a median of $100,092 a year. This is higher than $77,339, the median for all majors at Cal Poly.

Student Debt of Engineering Graduates with a Bachelor’s Degree

While getting their bachelor’s degree at Cal Poly, engineering students accumulate a median of $20,696 in student loans. This is higher than $19,273, the typical median for all majors at Cal Poly.

Cal Poly Undergraduate Tuition and Fees

The full-time undergraduate tuition and fees are shown below.

	In State	Out of State
Tuition	$5,742	$18,684
Fees	$6,077	$14,546

Read more about Cal Poly tuition and fees.

Bachelor’s Student Diversity

In the most recent graduating class, 72% of engineering bachelor’s degrees went to men and 28% went to women.

The majority of engineering bachelor’s degree graduates at Cal Poly were White. Roughly 51% of graduates fell into this category.

The following table and chart show the ethnic background for students who recently graduated from California Polytechnic State University-San Luis Obispo with a bachelor’s in engineering.

Ethnic Background	Number of Students
Asian	169
Black or African American	6
Hispanic or Latino	205
White	543
Non-Resident Aliens	10
Other Races	128

Mechanical Engineering (Bachelor’s)

Cal Poly conferred 288 bachelor’s completions in mechanical engineering recently — 19% to women and 81% to men. Most of these graduates identified as White (52%).

• Best General Mechanical Engineering Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California — #5
• Best General Mechanical Engineering Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the Far Western US Region — #5
• Best General Mechanical Engineering Bachelor’s Degree Schools — #17
• Best Value General Mechanical Engineering Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California — #20
• Best Value General Mechanical Engineering Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the Far Western US Region — #30

Civil Engineering, General (Bachelor’s)

Cal Poly granted 126 bachelor’s completions in civil engineering, general recently — 27% to women and 73% to men. Most of these graduates identified as White (41%).

• Best General Civil Engineering Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California — #2
• Best General Civil Engineering Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the Far Western US Region — #2
• Best General Civil Engineering Bachelor’s Degree Schools — #6
• Best Value General Civil Engineering Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California — #15
• Best Value General Civil Engineering Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the Far Western US Region — #22

Aerospace, Aeronautical, and Astronautical/Space Engineering, General (Bachelor’s)

Cal Poly conferred 95 bachelor’s completions in aerospace, aeronautical, and astronautical/space engineering, general in the most recent reporting year — 26% to women and 74% to men. The most common background among these graduates was White (59%).

• Best Aerospace & Aeronautical Engineering Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California — #2
• Best Aerospace & Aeronautical Engineering Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the Far Western US Region — #3
• Best Value Aerospace & Aeronautical Engineering Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California — #9
• Best Value Aerospace & Aeronautical Engineering Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the Far Western US Region — #10
• Best Aerospace & Aeronautical Engineering Bachelor’s Degree Schools — #11

Bioengineering and Biomedical Engineering (Bachelor’s)

Cal Poly awarded 84 bachelor’s completions in bioengineering and biomedical engineering recently — 57% to women and 43% to men. The largest share of these graduates were White (64%).

• Best Bioengineering & Biomedical Engineering Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California — #4
• Best Bioengineering & Biomedical Engineering Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the Far Western US Region — #4
• Best Bioengineering & Biomedical Engineering Bachelor’s Degree Schools — #10
• Best Value Bioengineering & Biomedical Engineering Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California — #11
• Best Value Bioengineering & Biomedical Engineering Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the Far Western US Region — #13

Computer Engineering, General (Bachelor’s)

Cal Poly conferred 80 bachelor’s completions in computer engineering, general in the most recent reporting year — 11% to women and 89% to men. The most common background among these graduates was White (42%).

• Best General Computer Engineering Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California — #3
• Best General Computer Engineering Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the Far Western US Region — #3
• Best General Computer Engineering Bachelor’s Degree Schools — #8
• Best Value General Computer Engineering Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California — #19
• Best Value General Computer Engineering Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the Far Western US Region — #26

Electrical and Electronics Engineering (Bachelor’s)

Cal Poly conferred 76 bachelor’s completions in electrical and electronics engineering in the latest year of data — 18% to women and 82% to men. The largest share of these graduates were White (49%).

• Best Electrical Engineering Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California — #9
• Best Electrical Engineering Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the Far Western US Region — #10
• Best Value Electrical Engineering Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California — #22
• Best Electrical Engineering Bachelor’s Degree Schools — #23
• Best Value Electrical Engineering Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the Far Western US Region — #32

Industrial Engineering (Bachelor’s)

Cal Poly awarded 69 bachelor’s degrees in industrial engineering in the latest year of data — 42% to women and 58% to men. The largest share of these graduates were White (39%).

• Best General Industrial Engineering Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California — #2
• Best General Industrial Engineering Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the Far Western US Region — #2
• Best Value General Industrial Engineering Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California — #4
• Best Value General Industrial Engineering Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the Far Western US Region — #5
• Best General Industrial Engineering Bachelor’s Degree Schools — #7

Materials Engineering (Bachelor’s)

Cal Poly conferred 59 bachelor’s completions in materials engineering in the most recent reporting year — 24% to women and 76% to men. The most common background among these graduates was White (54%).

• Best General Materials Engineering Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California — #1
• Best General Materials Engineering Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the Far Western US Region — #1
• Best General Materials Engineering Bachelor’s Degree Schools — #5
• Best Value General Materials Engineering Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California — #7
• Best Value General Materials Engineering Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the Far Western US Region — #8

Architectural Engineering (Bachelor’s)

Cal Poly conferred 44 bachelor’s degrees in architectural engineering recently — 50% to women and 50% to men. The largest share of these graduates were White (52%).

• Best Architectural Engineering Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California — #1
• Best Architectural Engineering Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the Far Western US Region — #1
• Best Value Architectural Engineering Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California — #1
• Best Value Architectural Engineering Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the Far Western US Region — #1
• Best Value Architectural Engineering Bachelor’s Degree Schools — #1

Computer Software Engineering (Bachelor’s)

Cal Poly granted 37 bachelor’s completions in computer software engineering recently — 22% to women and 78% to men. The largest share of these graduates were White (57%).

• Best Software Engineering Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California — #2
• Best Software Engineering Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the Far Western US Region — #2
• Best Software Engineering Bachelor’s Degree Schools — #2
• Best Value Software Engineering Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California — #8
• Best Value Software Engineering Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the Far Western US Region — #9

Agricultural Engineering (Bachelor’s)

Cal Poly conferred 32 bachelor’s degrees in agricultural engineering in the latest year of data — 34% to women and 66% to men. The most common background among these graduates was White (69%).

• Best Agricultural Engineering Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California — #1
• Best Agricultural Engineering Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the Far Western US Region — #1
• Best Value Agricultural Engineering Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California — #1
• Best Value Agricultural Engineering Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the Far Western US Region — #1
• Best Agricultural Engineering Bachelor’s Degree Schools — #3

Environmental/Environmental Health Engineering (Bachelor’s)

Cal Poly awarded 31 bachelor’s degrees in environmental/environmental health engineering recently — 52% to women and 48% to men. The largest share of these graduates were White (55%).

• Best General Environmental Engineering Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California — #2
• Best General Environmental Engineering Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the Far Western US Region — #2
• Best Value General Environmental Engineering Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California — #7
• Best General Environmental Engineering Bachelor’s Degree Schools — #9
• Best Value General Environmental Engineering Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the Far Western US Region — #9

Manufacturing Engineering (Bachelor’s)

Cal Poly awarded 28 bachelor’s completions in manufacturing engineering recently — 21% to women and 79% to men. Most of these graduates identified as White (43%).

• Best General Manufacturing Engineering Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California — #1
• Best General Manufacturing Engineering Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the Far Western US Region — #1
• Best General Manufacturing Engineering Bachelor’s Degree Schools — #2
• Best Value General Manufacturing Engineering Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California — #2
• Best Value General Manufacturing Engineering Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the Far Western US Region — #2

Engineering Science (Bachelor’s)

Cal Poly granted 12 bachelor’s completions in engineering science in the most recent reporting year — 25% to women and 75% to men. Most of these graduates identified as White (50%).

• Best General Engineering Science Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California — #2
• Best General Engineering Science Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the Far Western US Region — #2
• Best Value General Engineering Science Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California — #2
• Best Value General Engineering Science Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the Far Western US Region — #2
• Best Value General Engineering Science Bachelor’s Degree Schools — #2

Graduate Study in Engineering at Cal Poly

This program is also offered at the graduate level at Cal Poly. The following graduate award levels are reported.

Graduate Level	Annual Graduates
Master’s	109
Graduate Certificate	1

References

• National Center for Education Statistics
• O*NET Online
• IPEDS — Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System
• U.S. Department of Education — College Scorecard
• Image Credit: By Daderot under License More about our data sources and methodologies.