Cal Poly shatters application record again — 65,500 students want to attend next fall

Cal Poly on Friday reported a record number of student enrollment applications, for the sixth year in a row.

Between Oct. 1 and Nov. 30, more than 65,000 first-time freshman and transfer students sought to enroll at Cal Poly for the 2018-19 academic year.

“This is the largest undergraduate applicant pool in Cal Poly history, with 65,507 undergraduates submitting on-time applications,” Associate Vice Provost James Maraviglia said in a news release. That represents an increase of 12 percent over the 58,429 who applied last year.

The number includes 54,732 freshmen — a 13 percent increase from 2016 — and 10,775 upper-division transfer candidates — a 31 percent increase from 2016.

Cal Poly was the sole choice for nearly one in five — 19 percent — of freshman applicants to the California State University system.

Cal Poly is a selective university, and only a fraction of those applicants will be accepted, and even fewer will enroll. Of the 58,429 applicants in 2016, just 6,176 new students — 5,253 freshmen and 923 transfer students — ended up enrolling in fall 2017.

“Acceptance decisions should be announced well before the April 1 national acknowledgment date. Fall classes begin Sept. 20, 2018,” according to Cal Poly.

The university has steadily grown in profile over the past decade. This year’s total number of applicants is up nearly 68 percent from the number who applied in 2008.

This story was originally published December 15, 2017 at 4:57 PM with the headline "Cal Poly shatters application record again — 65,500 students want to attend next fall."