Comparison tool
Rankings across 8 publishers plus admissions, cost, debt and outcome data for Georgia Institute of Technology, California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo. Every figure is sourced and dated.
| Metric | Georgia TechAtlanta, GA | Cal Poly SLOSan Luis Obispo, CA |
|---|---|---|
| Acceptance rate | 14.1% | 31.3% |
| SAT middle 50% | 1370–1540 | Not reportedCalifornia Polytechnic State University-San Luis Obispo reports that it neither requires nor recommends admissions test scores, and does not report a score range to the Department of Education. |
| Average net price | $12,11613.9% on Pell grants | $16,66519.2% on Pell grants |
| Published tuition & fees | $12,058 in-state · $34,484 outMost recent reported academic year, College Scorecard June 2026 release | $13,596 in-state · $34,665 outMost recent reported academic year, College Scorecard June 2026 release |
| 6-year graduation rate | 94.0% | 86.4% |
| First-year retention | 98.1% | 95.5% |
| Undergraduates on Pell grants | 13.9% | 19.2% |
| Median earnings, 10 yrs after entry | $102,772 | $90,768 |
| Median federal debt at graduation | $21,672 | $18,500 |
| Student-faculty ratio | 18:1 | 18:1 |
| Undergraduate enrollment | 18,785 | 21,996 |
| Consensus percentile | 5Lower is better | 6Lower is better |
| Methodology sensitivity | 7 ptsHow far published lists disagree, in percentile points | 10 ptsHow far published lists disagree, in percentile points |
Highlighted cells mark the most favourable value in that row where a direction is meaningful. No highlight appears for metrics like enrollment or SAT range, where “better” depends entirely on what you want.
“Not ranked by this source” means that publisher’s list does not include the school — not missing data and not a poor rank.
| Source | Georgia Tech | Cal Poly SLO |
|---|---|---|
| US News | #32 of 436National universitiesNational Universities · 2026 | #1 of 118Regional univ. (West)Regional Universities (West) · 2026 |
| Forbes | #32 of 500Top colleges (Forbes)America's Top Colleges · 2026 | #55 of 500Top colleges (Forbes)America's Top Colleges · 2026 |
| Washington Monthly | #21 of 442National universitiesNational Universities · 2026 | Not ranked by this source |
| WSJ | #9 of 500U.S. colleges (WSJ)Best Colleges in the U.S. · 2026 | #48 of 500U.S. colleges (WSJ)Best Colleges in the U.S. · 2026 |
| Niche | #28 of 2,605Overall (Niche)Best Colleges (Overall) · 2026 | #115 of 2,605Overall (Niche)Best Colleges (Overall) · 2026 |
| Money | Not ranked by this source | Listed |
| Princeton Review | Not ranked by this source | Not ranked by this source |
| QS | #123 of 1,504World (QS)World University Rankings · 2026 | Not ranked by this source |
Students certain they want engineering, computing or quantitative business, who value measurable career outcomes over campus breadth — and Georgia residents in particular.
Grading rigor is severe and well documented; GPA recovery is difficult.
Full profileStudents certain of an applied major — engineering, architecture, agribusiness, planning — who want to build from day one and value California in-state tuition.
Admission is by major and changing majors internally is genuinely difficult.
Full profile