Cal Poly named the best public, master’s-level university in West for 30th straight year
Cal Poly has once again been named the No. 1 regional public university in West by U.S. News and World Report — for the 30th year in a row.
In the annual college and university rankings released Monday, the San Luis Obispo university also came at or near the top for several other rankings, including best colleges for veterans and most innovative schools.
U.S. News and World Report annually ranks schools based on data from third-party sources and the universities and colleges themselves. It bases rankings off factors such as graduation and retention rates, surveys from undergraduates, faculty resources (class sizes, compensation, etc.), financial resources per student, and average alumni giving rate.
“This milestone ranking extends across a generation of dedicated faculty and staff and honors their efforts to promote student success through Cal Poly’s Learn by Doing model,” university President Jeffrey D. Armstrong said in a news release. “Over the past 30 years, Cal Poly has solidified its standing as one of the nation’s best and best-value public institutions. And Cal Poly alumni, corporate partners and other donors have united to help transform the campus with an investment in state-of-the-art facilities to prepare our students to embark on successful careers and become tomorrow’s leaders.”
Here’s how the university ranked according to U.S. News and World Report:
- First out of 59 universities for “top public regional universities in the West,” meaning schools that provide “a full range of undergraduate and master’s-level programs but few doctoral programs.” It ranked ahead of Cal Poly Pomona, Western Washington University and San Jose State University.
- First out of six schools for “most innovative schools in the West.” This ranked universities on which sent in the most nominations for their institutions “making the most innovative improvements in terms of curriculum, faculty, students, campus life, technology or facilities,” according to U.S. News and World Report.
- First out of 27 schools for “best colleges for veterans.” This comprises universities that are “top-ranked” otherwise and participate in federal initiatives to help veterans and active-duty service members pay for their degrees.
- Second out of 120 schools for “best regional universities in the West.” Coming in behind only the University of Portland, Cal Poly bested Whitworth University in Washington, Saint Mary’s College of California and the University of Redlands. It was the only public school in the top 13.
- Second out of 15 in “best undergraduate teaching programs.” This ranking is based on survey results in which the schools “received the most votes from top college administrators for putting a particular focus on undergraduate teaching,” according to U.S. News and World Report.
- Seventh out of 230 for “best undergraduate engineering program.” This ranking is based solely on peer assessment surveys. Cal Poly came in just behind Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology in Indiana, Franklin W. Olin College of Engineering in Massachusetts, Harvey Mudd College in California, the U.S. Naval Academy, the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, and Bucknell University in Pennsylvania.
- Eighteenth out of 39 schools for “best value universities in the West.” The ranking takes into account a school’s academic quality and net cost of attendance for an out-of-state student who received the average level of need-based financial aid.
