How tough was it to get into Cal Poly in 2026? See the data for each major
Some majors at Cal Poly once again had space for just a sliver of the applicants hoping to attend the school in the fall — though the university actually saw fewer applications this admissions cycle than in previous years.
Around 79,400 students applied to Cal Poly for 2026 — a notable shift down from the record-breaking 81,910 applications received in 2025.
This year was the first year since the 2020 admissions cycle that the number of Cal Poly applications did not break a record.
Still, the university remained highly competitive — with some majors showing room for less than 3% of applicants, according to Tribune analysis of the latest data published by Cal Poly’s Office of Institutional Research.
And the university once again rejected thousands of applicants with 4.0 GPAs, according to university spokesperson Keegan Koberl. The average GPA for students accepted to the SLO campus this cycle was a 4.10.
Of the total 79,400 applicants, Cal Poly sent acceptance letters to 24,267 students, equating to around 30.5% of applicants. That’s a 7.7% year-over-year increase in students accepted, according to a Strategic Enrollment Management report.
However, the university actually has room for far fewer students than it accepts each year.
Enrollment targets showed that the university aimed to enroll around 6,522 students between the fall and summer 2026 semesters, including 5,526 first-time freshmen and 996 new transfer students.
A second report from Strategic Enrollment Management showed the number of confirmed students was a bit higher than the enrollment projections — sitting at 7,066 admitted applicants.
Additionally, all of Cal Poly’s majors remain impacted, meaning they receive more qualified applicants than they can accept.
While the applications did falter slightly this year, university spokesperson Keegan Koberl told The Tribune in May that Cal Poly is still going strong.
“As higher education institutions nationwide experience demographic enrollment pressures and increased competition for students (trends that are expected to continue) Cal Poly continues to outperform broader industry trends and sustain exceptionally strong student demand,” he said.
What were Cal Poly’s most competitive majors in 2026?
The Tribune analyzed the application data compared to the enrollment targets for each available major to determine the most and least competitive majors for Mustang hopefuls in 2026.
The data obtained by The Tribune did not include the number of students accepted broken down by major, and was specific to the San Luis Obispo campus.
Cal Poly’s most competitive majors were similar to previous years — but the odds differed depending on whether applicants were incoming first-years or new transfer students.
The most competitive major for freshman applicants was once again psychology, which has led the pack for at least the last two years, though its level of competition has changed.
This year, the psychology major received 3,411 applications, but had room for only about 2.4% of those — or roughly 84 students, according to the university data.
That’s a slightly less competitive than last year, when the major reported space for about 2.1% of applicants, or 80 students.
Biological sciences was the second-most-competitive major for first-year applicants in 2026, with room for just 157 of the 5,358 students who applied.
Kinesiology came in third, with 2,328 applicants and 78 available seats — an estimated 3.35% rate of enrollment compared to applications received.
Kinesiology jumped two spots compared to last year, when it was the fifth-most-competitive major. This year, it beat out aerospace engineering and marine sciences, which took the third and fourth spots last year.
Meanwhile, the odds were even slimmer for some transfer students applying to attend Cal Poly in 2026.
The most competitive major available for transfer students this year was public health, which had room for just 3 of its 142 applicants. Though that number still represents a tough margin for students hoping to get into the program, it also marks a slight widening from last year, when the major had room for about 1.41% of applicants, or two students, compared to this year’s estimated 2.11%.
Biochemistry was the second-most-competitive major for new transfer applicants, according to the data. It received 93 applications, but had only 2 seats available, representing about 2.1% of the Mustang hopefuls who applied.
Construction management was the third-most-competitive major for transfer students, with space for just 3 — or about 2.4% — of its 121 applicants.
Public health, biochemistry and construction management were also the top three most competitive majors available for transfer students in 2025, the data showed.
What were the least competitive majors at Cal Poly in 2026?
Not all majors were as difficult to get into, however.
For first-time freshmen, the wine and viticulture program was the easiest to get into, with room for 69 — or just over 32% — of its 215 applicants. Wine and viticulture jumped into the least competitive spot from the second-least competitive in 2025.
Bioresource and agricultural engineering, which was the least competitive last year, came in second this year. It received 203 applications and had room for about 29.5% of those, or 60 students.
Dairy science was the third-least-competitive major, with room for 15 out of its 53 freshman applicants, representing a projected 28.3% enrollment rate compared to applications received. Dairy science jumped into one of the top three easiest majors from being the tenth-most-competitive in 2025.
The easiest majors were different for new transfer students, however, with interdisciplinary studies leading the pack for ease of access.
That program had room for about 38.8% of transfer applicants, with seats for 14 of the 36 students who applied.
Manufacturing engineering was the second-least competitive, with space for 3 — or 30% — of its 10 transfer applicants.
Meanwhile, plant sciences sat in the third spot. It received 59 transfer applications and had seats for about 17, or 28.8%, of students.
In 2025, the top three least competitive majors for transfer students were agricultural systems management, industrial technology and packaging, and plant sciences, the data showed.
What Cal Poly majors, colleges were most popular?
Some colleges at Cal Poly were in higher demand than others.
The College of Engineering received the most first-time-freshman applications at 19,717 — but it also had the most seats available, at 1,449, representing around 7.3% of those who applied, according to numbers provided by the university and analyzed by The Tribune.
The Bailey College of Science and Mathematics was the next most popular, receiving 15,495 applications during the 2025-26 admissions cycle. It had room, however, for just 772 — or about 4.9% — of those applicants.
The third-most-popular college was the College of Liberal Arts, which received 12,502 applications with 929 seats available, leaving room for approximately 7.4% of applicants.
Meanwhile, the Orfalea College of Business received 9,680 freshman applications with 800 seats available; the College of Agriculture, Food and Environmental Science received 7,363 applications compared to its 1,143 available seats; and the College of Architecture and Environmental Design received the fewest applications at 4,081, with spots available for around 433 students.
Overall, the College of Agriculture Food and Environmental Science was the least competitive for freshmen, with room for about 15.5% of students who applied, followed by the College of Architecture and Environmental Design with room for around 10.6% and the Orfalea College of Business with seats for about 8.2% of applicants.
The Bailey College of Science and Mathematics was the most competitive for freshmen, with room for about 4.9% of applicants, followed by the College of Engineering with seats for about 7.3% and the College of Liberal Arts with room for an estimated 7.4% of students.
The data showed that the College of Engineering was also the most popular for transfer applicants — receiving 2,881 applications. It had seats for about 215 — or 7.4% — of those transfer students who applied.
It was followed in popularity by the College of Liberal Arts, which received 2,435 applications compared to its 218 available seats, and the Orfalea College of Business, which received 2,307 applications compared to its 264 openings.
The Bailey College of Science and Mathematics came next with 1,351 applicants compared to 80 available seats, followed by the College of Agriculture, Food and Environmental Sciences, which received 795 applications compared to its 113 openings.
The College of Architecture and Environmental Design received the fewest transfer student applications at 560, with room for just 45 students.
For transfer students, the Bailey College of Science and Mathematics was the most competitive, with room for about 5.9% of applicants. It was followed by the College of Engineering at an estimated 7.4% and the College of Architecture and Environmental Design at about 8%, according to the data.
The least competitive college for transfers was the College of Agriculture, Food and Environmental Science, which boasted room for around 14.2% of transfer applicants. It was followed by the Orfalea College of Business, which had room for roughly 11.4% of students, and the College of Liberal Arts which had seats for about 8.9% of transfers who applied.
Search the database for available majors
Using data provided by the university, The Tribune created a database showing the numbers for all available majors, both for freshman and transfer applicants.
You can search the data for each major using the charts below.
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