Cal Poly Pomona is No. 3 on the 2023 Social Mobility Index (SMI), cementing a 10-year streak as the nation's highest-ranking polytechnic university for helping low-income students achieve their dreams of success and upward economic opportunity by graduating them into well-paying careers. The university is one of the few institutions consistently in the Top 20 since CollegeNET began publishing the SMI in 2014.
The SMI is calculated from six variables: tuition cost; graduation rate; percentage of students whose incomes are below $48,000; median salary five years after graduation; endowment; and "ethos" - a new metric measuring how schools' messaging and communications teach faculty, students and the public about their institution's attention to advancing social mobility. Nearly 12,000 U.S. universities and colleges are on the 2023 list.
According to CollegeNET, the median early career salary of Cal Poly Pomona alumni is $54,000.
Cal Poly Pomona has approximately 27,000 students, 57 percent of whom are the first in their families to attend college. About 70 percent received financial aid through grants, loans, federal work study and scholarships.
Cal Poly Pomona's SMI ranking caps off a year of recognition for its leadership in social mobility, teaching innovation and best value.
- No. 2 Top Public Schools West - 2024 Best Colleges (U.S. News & World Report)
- No. 2 "Best Colleges of Veterans" - Regional Universities West
- No. 4 in Social Mobility - Regional Universities West
- No. 4 Most Innovative School in the West - by college presidents, provosts and admissions deans voting for schools making the most innovative improvements in curriculum, faculty, students, campus life, technology or facilities
- No. 4 Top Performers on Social Mobility West (tie)
- "Best Colleges in America 2023" (Money Magazine), earning 4.5 out of 5 stars, with a spotlight on the university's 76 percent graduation rate, which is "nearly 16% higher than expected based on schools with comparable student demographics."
- Top polytechnic and No. 11 overall in "2024 Best U.S. Colleges for Social Mobility" (The Wall Street Journal/College Pulse)
- Top polytechnic university and No. 14 overall in the West "Best Bang for the Buck Colleges" (Washington Monthly)