Cal Poly SLO applications soar to another new record
Cal Poly has once again received a record number of applications for its upcoming fall class.
Some 78,947 students applied for a spot at the university this year, according to University Communications spokesperson Keegan Koberl.
That’s a 5.5% increase over 2023, when the university received 74,571, and 12% above the 69,429 students who applied in 2022, according to the Cal Poly Institutional Research data dashboard.
The university admitted 21,619 students in 2023, with 6,619 admitted students accepting the university’s offer. The previous year, the university admitted 20,440 students, but only 6,430 accepted.
CSU extends acceptance date due to FAFSA problems
The California State University system also announced Wednesday that it’s extending the deadline for students to accept admission to no earlier than May 15 due to problems with the processing delays with the updated Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA).
“For prospective students who have applied for the fall 2024 term and received admission to one or more CSU campuses, this deadline extension allows them and their families additional time to review financial aid offers before making their decision to commit to a particular CSU,” April Grommo, assistant vice chancellor of CSU Strategic Enrollment Management, said in a news release.
CSU campuses usually determine aid offers by March ahead of a May 1 decision deadline. But that timeline has been pushed back after the Department of Education announce don Jan. 30 that it wouldn’t begin sending student FAFSA information to universities until mid-March, two months later than expected.
That in turn has set back the time universities need to make their finanical offers.
Cal Poly preparing for more enrollment growth
With applications rising every year, Cal Poly said it is ready to meet the challenges of a growing student body head on.
“Over the next 10 years, Cal Poly will add about 3,000 beds to campus housing and incorporate major renovations to University Housing’s six red-brick residence halls,” Koberl said in a statement to the Tribune.
The project will cost $1.2 billion and be completed over the next decade.
Koberl added that the university intends to keep growing, “strategically.”
“The number of new students Cal Poly admits changes from year to year depending on a number of variables,” Koberl said.
Cal Poly isn’t the only California State University school seeing record applications and admissions. Last year, CSU San Marcos and San Diego State enrolled a record 16,008 students and 37,087 students respectively, according to the San Diego Tribune.
Outside of the CSUs, the University of California schools also admitted a record number of students, according to the UC Press Room.
Students who applied to Cal Poly can expect to start hearing back from the university in March.
