Cal Poly receives five-star rating in ‘2025-26 Best Colleges in America’ list
Cal Poly campus.
Eighteen public and private California institutions received five-star ratings
– Cal Poly received a five-star rating in Money magazine’s 2025-26 Best Colleges in America list, placing it among the top 40 public and private institutions nationwide to earn the publication’s highest ranking.
The rankings, released June 25, evaluate 732 colleges and universities across the United States based on graduation rates, cost of attendance, financial aid, alumni earnings, and other factors. The publication describes its list as a resource for students and families to assess college value and build school selections that align with their goals and budgets.
Cal Poly was recognized for its academic performance and postgraduation outcomes. The university has a graduation rate of 86 percent, with students taking an average of 4.3 years to complete their degrees. Approximately 90 percent of graduates are employed full time or enrolled in graduate school within one year. According to Money’s data, Cal Poly alumni report median early-career salaries of just over $90,700.
This marks Cal Poly’s third consecutive year receiving the top-tier five-star designation. The university, which has an acceptance rate of 30 percent, admitted students with an average grade point average of 4.03.
Money noted Cal Poly’s emphasis on applied learning through its Learn by Doing model. Founded in October 1903 as California’s first polytechnic school, the university currently enrolls more than 21,500 students across six colleges and offers more than 60 majors, including programs in wine and viticulture and in its engineering school.
According to Money, “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. 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.”
Eighteen public and private California institutions received five-star ratings, including Stanford University, Harvey Mudd College, Pomona College, and several University of California campuses. Cal Poly was one of nine California State University campuses to receive the top rating. All 23 CSU campuses received at least four stars. Fifteen CSU campuses ranked in the top 10 percent of Money’s ratings, and half of the five-star institutions on the magazine’s Best Colleges in the West list were CSU schools.
Money revised its ranking system in 2023, replacing numerical rankings with a star-based format. Institutions are now evaluated using a scale from two to five stars.
“In a numbered ranking, very small differences in colleges’ scores result in different ranks, exaggerating the difference in performance,” Money stated. “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 2025-26 list includes fewer schools than the previous year, with 732 colleges evaluated, down from 745. The full rankings are available at money.com/best-colleges.
