At a Glance
Cal Poly Pomona admits 74% of applicants.
What You'll Actually Pay
See what families at different income levels actually pay after aid.
What families actually pay, by income level
After grants and scholarships. Before loans. Public school prices shown at in-state rates.
Source: College Scorecard / IPEDS, 2024-25
Where the Sticker Price Goes
Based on average need-based grant. Actual cost varies by family income — see chart above.
Shown at in-state rates.
Debt at Graduation
55.7%
receive need-based grant aid
$20,083
average debt at graduation
Cal Poly Pomona graduates carry an average of $20,083 in debt.
Merit Aid
185
students received merit aid
$2,406
average merit award
Getting In
Cal Poly Pomona admits 74% of applicants.
This school reports SAT section scores but leaves the composite range blank, so there is no mid-50% band to chart.
ACT composite range not reported by this school.
What They Value
Academic
Nonacademic
California State Polytechnic University, Pomona gives essays less weight than many schools — academics drive most admissions decisions here. Demonstrated interest is Not Considered here — campus visits and emails to admissions won't affect your odds.
Student Life
23.2% of Cal Poly Pomona classes have fewer than 20 students.
Share of undergraduate class sections at each size, from CDS Section I-3. More red = more large lectures.
At Cal Poly Pomona, 23.2% of your classes will have fewer than 20 students.
Class size data reflects all undergraduate sections including labs, seminars, and lectures. Large research universities often have smaller upper-division and graduate-level sections that improve the overall distribution. First and second-year students typically experience larger classes than these averages suggest.
Source: Common Data Set 2025–26, Section I-3 (class sizes)
26:1
student:faculty ratio
Campus Life
From out of state (freshman class)
0.7%
Live on campus
25%
Men in fraternities
2%
Women in sororities
1%
Who Attends
Racial and ethnic breakdown of enrolled undergraduates, as reported in each school's Common Data Set. "Unknown / Other" includes students who did not report or selected "other."
Cal Poly Pomona's student body is 12.8% white.
Popular Majors
Will They Graduate?
Cal Poly Pomona graduates 36.8% of students in 4 years.
Graduating late means paying for extra semesters. The 6-year rate tells you who eventually finishes — the 4-year rate tells you what it actually costs.
Cal Poly Pomona graduates 36.8% of students in 4 years.
What finishing late actually costs
Based on each school's published cost of attendance. Public school costs shown at in-state rates.
Cal Poly Pomona
36.8%
4-yr grad rate
Extra year cost: $23,955*
* In-state cost of attendance. Out-of-state students pay significantly more.
Graduation rate data from Common Data Set 2025–26, Fall 2018 cohort (most recent available). 4-year rate = students completing in 4 years or less. 6-year rate = students completing within 6 years.
68%
Overall 6-yr rate
62%
Pell recipient rate
There's a 6 point gap between overall and Pell Grant graduation rates. Worth asking the school about support resources.
Freshman Retention
89.1%
89.1% of first-year students return for sophomore year.
City & Culture
Beyond the data — what it's actually like to spend four years in Pomona.
Cal Poly Pomona sits in the Inland Empire, about 30 minutes east of downtown Los Angeles, on one of the largest campuses in the CSU system at 1,438 acres — including a working farm and horse ranch alongside its engineering and business colleges. Most students commute from across the LA metro area rather than living in a traditional college town.
Notable Alumni
Hilda Solis
Earned a B.A. in Political Science in 1979; went on to serve as U.S. Secretary of Labor and as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives.
Class of 1979
Eddy Hartenstein
Earned a B.S. in Aerospace Engineering in 1971; became CEO and publisher of the Los Angeles Times.
Class of 1971
Jack Dangermond
Attended Cal Poly Pomona starting in 1967 and later received an honorary doctorate; founded Esri, the geographic information systems (GIS) software company.
Roy Conli
Graduated in 1983 and won the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature as producer of Big Hero 6.
Class of 1983
Alumni selected for name recognition and range of fields. Not from the Common Data Set.
The City
Major city
Pomona, CA
Best For
Traditions
Learn by Doing
Cal Poly Pomona's founding educational philosophy, emphasizing hands-on, applied coursework over lecture-only instruction across every college.
W.K. Kellogg Arabian Horse Center
A working horse ranch on campus since a 1932 donation from cereal magnate W.K. Kellogg, marking its 100th anniversary in 2025-26 — students help care for and train the horses as part of the university's agricultural programs.
Weekend Escapes
Within driving distance from Pomona
Downtown Los Angeles
About 30 minutesMuseums, professional sports, and the LA job market, a short drive west.
Newport and Huntington Beach
About 45 minutesOrange County's beaches.
Big Bear Lake
About 1 hour 20 minutesMountain lake town for hiking in summer and skiing in winter.
Getting There & Game Days
Nearest airport
Ontario International Airport (ONT)
About 20 minutes from campus
Flies international — you can start a trip abroad from here.
Pro sports nearby
- LA Rams NFLAbout 35 minutes away
- LA Lakers NBAAbout 35 minutes away
- LA Dodgers MLBAbout 30 minutes away
- LA Angels MLBAbout 27 minutes away
Career Proximity
Cal Poly Pomona sits inside the Los Angeles metro's aerospace, defense, and entertainment industries, with the Inland Empire's logistics corridor immediately adjacent.
Top Industries Nearby
Major Employers
- Northrop Grumman
- Boeing
- Southern California Edison
- The Walt Disney Company
- Kaiser Permanente
- NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Downtown Los Angeles, about 30 minutes from campus
Who Thrives Here
Cal Poly Pomona admits 74.0% of applicants and is test-blind — it does not consider SAT or ACT scores in admission decisions at all, matching the rest of the CSU system. In-state tuition and fees run $8,566, and 99.0% of the entering class comes from California; out-of-state and international students together make up barely 1%. The 25,312-undergraduate student body is a Hispanic-Serving Institution — 55.6% Hispanic, against 21.0% Asian and 12.8% white. What sets Cal Poly Pomona apart academically is its 'Learn by Doing' philosophy, carried out on one of the largest CSU campuses at 1,438 acres — including a working farm and the century-old W.K. Kellogg Arabian Horse Center, where students help run the operation. Campus life leans commuter, 30 minutes from downtown Los Angeles: 25.0% of undergraduates live on campus. The trade-offs are the ones that come with scale and access. Teaching runs at 26 students per faculty member and only 23.2% of class sections have fewer than 20 students. Only 36.8% graduate in four years, though 68.0% do within six, aid covers 70.5% of demonstrated need, and graduates who borrow leave owing $20,083.