Cal Poly named the best regional university in the West by U.S. News & World Report

Sara Kassabian
·4 min read
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For the first time, Cal Poly has been named the best overall regional university in the western United States in U.S. News & World Report’s 2024 college rankings, while continuing its now 31-year streak as the best public university in the region.

It moved up to the top overall spot, which includes 120 master’s-level public and private universities in the western United States (those that do not offer doctorate degrees), after ranking No. 3 in 2021 and No. 2 in 2022 and 2023, taking the the No. 1 spot from University of Portland. The private Oregon university came in second to Cal Poly this year.

Cal Poly’s rise in the rankings was part of a wider trend among large public universities after U.S. News adjusted its methodology, dropping or downplaying some measures that long favored private schools.

“We appreciate this recognition of the quality and dedication of our faculty and the reputation of Cal Poly’s Learn by Doing approach to education, which continues to attract the best and brightest students to our San Luis Obispo campus,” Cal Poly President Jeffrey D. Armstrong said in a news release. “Our consecutive ranking streak is especially exciting for our current students as they ready to begin classes, and to their families and supporters. It also burnishes our reputation among employers who value a Cal Poly graduate as an individual who can be counted on to produce on their first day on the job.”

Cal Poly’s College of Engineering continues to shine in the rankings, as well.

Among universities without an engineering doctorate program, the undergraduate engineering program at Cal Poly moved up two spots from No. 7 last year to No. 5 in 2024. Cal Poly shares the fifth spot with the United States Naval Academy, according to the report.

The rankings for the undergrad engineering programs were based entirely on peer assessments, and Cal Poly ranked No. 1 in computer engineering and No. 2 in civil engineering, electrical engineering and mechanical engineering.

Cal Poly was also ranked best for veterans and the most innovative among western regional universities, according to the report.

The U.S. News & World Report ranks institutes of higher education based on data reported from participating colleges and universities and, in lieu of complete information from the schools, drawn from third-party sources, according to the college ranking methodology.

The magazine weighs a number of factors when determining how to rank a particular school, such as student outcomes (graduation, student retention, debt), faculty resources (student-faculty ratio, financial resources), peer assessment and more.

Here’s how Cal Poly ranked, according to the report:

  • No. 1 out of 120 universities for “best university in the West” — which includes public and private schools. Cal Poly is followed by the University of Portland in Oregon in second, Cal Poly Pomona in third, and St. Mary’s College of California in Moraga and San Jose State University tied for fourth.

  • No. 1 out of 58 universities for “best public university in the West.” Cal Poly was followed by Cal Poly Pomona in second, San Jose State University in third, CSU Stanislaus in fourth and University of Washington in Tacoma in fifth.

  • No. 1 out of 29 universities for “best college for veterans in the West,” followed by Cal Poly Pomona, San Jose State University, St. Edward’s University in Austin and Whitworth University in Spokane.

  • No. 1 of four universities for “most innovative schools in the West.”

  • No. 17 out of 38 for “best value universities,” moving up one spot from last year. Cal Poly is in the middle of the pack, with Westminster University in Salt Lake City in first, St. Mary’s University of San Antonio in second and Whitworth University in Spokane in third.

  • No. 5 out of of 273 universities for “best undergraduate engineering program (no doctorate).” This list pulled from a national pool, with Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology in Indiana in first, Franklin W. Olin College of Engineering in Massacusetts and Harvey Mudd College in Claremont tied for second, United States Military Academy West Point in fourth and Cal Poly in fifth place.

  • No. 75 out of 115 schools as “top performer for social mobility” in the western region. First place went to Mount Saint Mary’s University in Los Angeles, followed by CSU Monterey Bay in second, CSU Stanislaus in third, and Cal Poly Pomona, Fresno Pacific University, La Sierra University all tied for fourth.

U.S. News & World Report evaluated 1,840 schools to rank top colleges and universities on a national level as well as within four regions: North, South, Midwest and West. The western United States region includes 120 universities and colleges in California, Colorado, Texas and other western states.

Princeton University ranked No. 1 nationwide for national universities, followed by Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Harvard, Stanford and Yale.