What You'll Actually Pay
Price after grants
$7,851 to $20,716 a year for in-state students, depending on income.
College Scorecard 2024 estimate · in-state rates
See the price at your income ↑Sticker price
Full cost before aid: $23,955 a year in-state. Average need-based aid package: $17,414.Aid and debt
55.7%
receive need-based grants
$20,083
average debt at graduation
185
students got merit aid
about 1% of undergraduates
$2,406
average merit award
Getting In
Key dates
Test scores
SAT composite range not reported by this school.
ACT composite range not reported by this school.
What they value
- Very important
- Course rigor (AP/IB)
- GPA
- Considered
- Extracurriculars
- First-gen status
- Where you're from
- Volunteer work
- Work experience
- Not considered
- Class rank
- SAT/ACT scores
- Personal essay
- Recommendations
- Special talent
- Character
- Legacy status
- In-state residency
- Demonstrated interest
What this means for you
Cal Poly Pomona rates course rigor as Very Important.
MoreLess
Rigor means AP, IB, and dual enrollment carry real weight — make sure your mix of AP or IB courses is strong.
Cal Poly Pomona doesn't consider demonstrated interest in admissions at all — visits and follow-up emails won't move the needle here.
Source: Common Data Set 2025–26, Section C7 (admissions factors)
Cal Poly Pomona just showed you what it values in an application. Use that to write a Why-Cal Poly Pomona essay that's actually about you — not a template.
Get sourced starting points for your essayStudent Life
23.2% of Cal Poly Pomona classes have fewer than 20 students.
23.2%
under 20 students
57.7%
20 to 49
19.1%
50 or more
Every class section counts, labs and seminars included; first-year courses tend to be larger. Cal Poly Pomona CDS 2025–26, I-3.
26:1
student:faculty ratio
Campus life
0.7%
first-years from out of state
25%
live on campus
2%
of men in fraternities
1%
of women in sororities
Who attends
- Hispanic55.6%
- Asian21%
- White12.8%
- Multiracial4%
- Unknown / other2.9%
- Black2.3%
Enrolled undergraduates; international students are counted separately and not included. Cal Poly Pomona CDS 2025–26, B2.
Popular majors
Will They Graduate?
36.8% of Cal Poly Pomona students graduate in 4 years.
36.8%
finish in 4 years
Entered fall 2019
68%
finish in 6 years
Entered fall 2019
89.1%
return after first year
Finishing late means paying for extra semesters, so the 4-year rate is the one that shows the cost.
Students with Pell Grants
62% finish in 6 years, against 68% of all students.
A 6-point gap: Pell Grant students finish less often than students overall.
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.
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Most students commute from across the LA metro area rather than living in a traditional college town.
The City
Major city
Pomona, CA
Best For
Notable alumni
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.
Traditions
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 from Pomona
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 and game days
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
Internships and jobs nearby
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
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 65.2% of demonstrated need, and graduates who borrow leave owing $20,083.