Cal Poly vs Vanderbilt

California Polytechnic State University-San Luis Obispo (Cal Poly) and Vanderbilt University stand as two distinct academic institutions, each offering unique opportunities and experiences to their students. Cal Poly, a public polytechnic university, prides itself on its strong focus on hands-on learning and its highly regarded engineering and agricultural programs. Vanderbilt, a private research university, is known for its rigorous academics, its commitment to undergraduate education, and its beautiful campus in Nashville, Tennessee. While both universities share a reputation for academic excellence, they differ significantly in terms of acceptance rates, popular majors, student body demographics, and graduation rates. Explore the comprehensive comparison table below to discover which university better aligns with your academic aspirations and personal preferences.

	California Polytechnic State University-San Luis Obispo	Vanderbilt University
Overview
Location	San Luis Obispo, California	Nashville, Tennessee
Campus setting	Suburb: Small	City: Large
College type	4 year	4 year
Control/business model	Public	Private (Non Profit)
Calendar system	Quarter	Semester
Degrees offered	Undergraduate and Graduate	Undergraduate and Graduate
Students retention rate	95.0%	97.0%
Common app member	No	Yes
Religious affiliation

Admission
Acceptance rate	33.0%	7.1%
Application fees	Undergraduate: $70 Graduate: $70	Undergraduate: $50 Graduate: $95
SAT range	N/A	1480 - 1570
ACT range	N/A	34 - 35
Students submitting SAT score		25.0%
Students submitting ACT score		32.0%
Total number of applicants	54,570	47,152
Total number of admissions given out	18,008	3,368
Admitted students who chose to enroll	4,884	1,626
Yield rate	27.1%	48.3%
Test scores (SAT/ACT)	N/A	N/A
High school GPA	Required	Required
Recommendation letters	Not required	Not required
High school transcript	Not required	Not required
English proficiency test (e.g. TOEFL)	Not required	Required

Tuition and Fees
Sticker price	In state: $29,680 Out of state: $47,590	$79,538
Average net price	$20,708	$27,553
Tuition	In state: $5,742 Out of state: $17,622	$54,840
Room & board	Room/dormitory: $9,642 Meal plan: $6,138	Room/dormitory: $12,000 Meal plan: $6,376
Available payment plans

Financial Aid
Students receiving financial aid (Grants & scholarships)	55.0% Average amount $5,988	64.0% Average amount $49,730
Students receiving federal student loan	24.0% Average amount $5,023	10.0% Average amount $4,979
Students taking out private loans	1.0% Average amount $22,714	2.0% Average amount $27,798

Students and Campus
Undergraduate students	21,128 Men 51.2% Women 48.8%	7,111 Men 48.9% Women 51.1%
Graduate students	1,103 Men 50.4% Women 49.6%	6,685 Men 39.5% Women 60.5%
Racial/ethnic diversity	Moderate	Moderate
Out-of-state students	20.6%	89.5%
International students	2.3%	11.7%
Campus local/setting	Suburb: Small	City: Large
Dormitory capacity	8,147	5,598
First year students are required to live on campus?	No	Yes
Top 5 states where most U.S. students come from	California Washington Colorado Oregon Texas	Tennessee California New York Florida Texas

Academics
Popular study areas	Engineering Business Agriculture Architecture Biological and Biomedical Sciences	Health Professions Education Engineering Business Legal Profession
Students to faculty ratio	21:1	8:1
Institutional accreditation	Western Association of Schools and Colleges Senior Colleges and University Commission	Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges

Outcome
Graduation rate	85.4%	93.4%
Dropout rate	12.5%	6.4%
Transferred out	1.2%	N/A
Alumni salary by major (Top 10)	Computer and Information Sciences, General (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $88,197 Year 2: $120,462 Year 3: $143,849 Electrical, Electronics and Communications Engineering (Master's Degrees) Year 1: $104,015 Year 2: $101,964 Year 3: $116,606 Computer Engineering (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $91,493 Year 2: $93,964 Year 3: $106,798 Fire Protection (Master's Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $97,071 Year 3: $103,907 Construction Engineering Technologies (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $79,656 Year 2: $82,780 Year 3: $96,152 Industrial Engineering (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $72,643 Year 2: $73,562 Year 3: $90,242 Engineering, General (Master's Degrees) Year 1: $74,873 Year 2: $78,971 Year 3: $90,194 Aerospace, Aeronautical and Astronautical Engineering (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $74,220 Year 2: $76,460 Year 3: $89,378 Accounting and Related Services (Master's Degrees) Year 1: $66,920 Year 2: $70,886 Year 3: $87,984 Electrical, Electronics and Communications Engineering (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $79,454 Year 2: $79,647 Year 3: $87,345	Medical Clinical Sciences/Graduate Medical Studies (Master's Degrees) Year 1: $101,041 Year 2: $122,038 Year 3: $169,145 Health and Medical Administrative Services (Master's Degrees) Year 1: $129,825 Year 2: $130,517 Year 3: $144,008 Finance and Financial Management Services (Master's Degrees) Year 1: $131,102 Year 2: $117,572 Year 3: $133,025 Business Administration, Management and Operations (Master's Degrees) Year 1: $128,494 Year 2: $127,087 Year 3: $132,454 Law (First Professional Degrees) Year 1: $132,293 Year 2: $114,324 Year 3: $130,516 Marketing (Master's Degrees) Year 1: $108,764 Year 2: $111,620 Year 3: $121,754 Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing (First Professional Degrees) Year 1: $126,876 Year 2: $119,805 Year 3: $112,193 Educational Administration and Supervision (Doctoral Degrees) Year 1: $91,224 Year 2: $104,192 Year 3: $108,525 Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing (Master's Degrees) Year 1: $99,979 Year 2: $93,249 Year 3: $101,010 Mathematics (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $76,609 Year 2: $80,309 Year 3: $95,754

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