Contact: Jay Thompson

805-235-0955; jthomp04@calpoly.edu

University is one of the top 40 public and private schools to achieve the publication’s top echelon

SAN LUIS OBISPO — Cal Poly has again received Money magazine’s top five-star ranking in its 2025-26 Best Colleges in America list, a ranking designed to help students and their parents choose a school in terms of value.

Money’s analysis in its 11th annual list showcased the top 732 colleges and universities in the U.S. on graduation rates, cost of attendance, financial aid, alumni salaries and more. Although there isn’t one “best” college for every student, the magazine says its ratings can help families build a list of standout schools that fit their budgets.

While Cal Poly is a highly selective school, with an acceptance rate of 30 percent for students with an average 4.03 grade point average, it enjoys a graduation rate of 86 percent (taking an average of 4.3 years). This is its third straight year on the list.

Cal Poly also scored well postgraduation. About 90% of Cal Poly graduates are working full time or in graduate schools within a year, and students go on to earn median salaries of just over $90,700 in their early careers, a premium over similar schools, according to Money's analysis.

Since classes were first offered in October 1903 as the state’s first polytechnic school, Cal Poly has built its reputation on a Learn by Doing educational experience. It has evolved into a skills-focused university with more than 21,500 high-achieving students in six colleges pursuing over 60 majors, including one in wine and viticulture and several within its renowned engineering school, the magazine said.

“The campus covers more than 9,100 acres and uses canyons, ranches, beaches and even a farm to teach students hands-on lessons in agriculture, biology and forestry,” Money reported. “Student research projects are encouraged across academic departments, and most of the schools on campus offer college-funded summer research projects students can apply to work on.”

The 40 institutions that earned Money’s five-star rating — down from 54 schools on the 2024-25 list — include liberal arts colleges, public universities and Ivy League schools, such as Harvard and Princeton. Alongside some of the most prestigious universities in the world, Money says, are schools where a wider variety of students can get in and afford to attend.

Cal Poly was joined as a top-ranked institution — the highest on the magazine’s scale — with eight other California State University campuses. All CSUs made the list, earning four stars or better.

While it’s not uncommon for public colleges to score well on its value-focused analysis, the Cal State system’s strength this year is noteworthy, Money said.

Nearly a quarter of the five-star designees on the entire list are CSU campuses. Moreover, 15 of the 23 California State University campuses score in the top 10% of Money’s ratings this year. In addition, half of the five-star campuses on the publication’s “Best Colleges in the West” are CSU schools.

Cal Poly was among 18 public and private California schools — including Stanford University and Harvey Mudd and Pomona colleges and University of California campuses — to receive five-star recognition.

Money magazine changed its Best Colleges guide, launched in 2015, from typically numbered rankings to the Yelp-like stars in 2023.

“In a numbered ranking, very small differences in colleges’ scores result in different ranks, exaggerating the difference in performance,” Money said. “As experts have long advised, it’s more important to look broadly at where a college lands on a list and not its precise rank.”

The personal finance website used six rankings, between two and five stars, to identify the 732 institutions across the nation (down from last year’s 745) “where your tuition (and time) is likely to pay off.”

The rankings were released June 25. 

Read more about Money’s Best Colleges 2025 rankings: money.com/best-colleges.

Top Photo: Students gather on Mustang Way during a past SLO Days, Cal Poly's two-day, overnight, summer orientation, which is the first of the two-part orientation series all incoming undergraduate students attend to prepare them for the start of their journey as new Mustangs. 

Photo by Joe Johnston | Cal Poly