Five-Star Ranking on Best Colleges List
The 40 institutions that earned Money’s five-star rating include liberal arts colleges, public universities and Ivy League schools, such as Harvard and Princeton.
For the third straight year, Cal Poly has received Money magazine’s top five-star ranking in its 2025-26 Best Colleges in America list, a ranking designed to help students and their parents choose a school in terms of value.
The personal finance website used six rankings — from two to five stars — to identify the top 732 colleges and universities in the U.S. “where your tuition (and time) is likely to pay off.”
The 40 institutions that earned Money’s five-star rating — down from 54 schools on the 2024-25 list — include liberal arts colleges, public universities and Ivy League schools, such as Harvard and Princeton.
While Cal Poly is a highly selective school, with an acceptance rate of 30 percent for students with an average 4.03 grade point average, it enjoys a graduation rate of 86 percent (taking an average of 4.3 years).
Cal Poly also scored well postgraduation. About 90% of Cal Poly graduates are working full time or in graduate schools within a year, and students go on to earn median salaries of just over $90,700 in their early careers, a premium over similar schools, according to Money's analysis.
“The campus covers more than 9,100 acres and uses canyons, ranches, beaches and even a farm to teach students hands-on lessons in agriculture, biology and forestry,” Money reported. “Student research projects are encouraged across academic departments, and most of the schools on campus offer college-funded summer research projects students can apply to work on.”
Cal Poly was among 18 public and private California schools — including Stanford University and Harvey Mudd and Pomona colleges and University of California campuses — to receive five-star recognition.