Campus and Community Overview

Aerial View of Cal Poly and Surrounding Area

Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo, is part of the California State University System and is located on the beautiful central coast of California, about halfway between Los Angeles and San Francisco. Campus is nestled against the coastal mountain range, situated ten minutes from some of the most pristine coastline in the country. The town of San Luis Obispo, lovingly referred to by locals as “SLO” (pronounced “slow”), has a population of nearly 50,000 residents. It offers small-town charm, with a beautifully preserved downtown business district and historical Victorian homes, along with the many amenities of a big city. The surrounding area offers a unique combination of ocean settings and an award-winning wine region that attracts tourists from around the country. The annual average daily temperature of 70.2 degrees allows residents to enjoy the beautiful outdoors year-round.

View of Morro Rock and Morro Bay Harbor

Oprah featured San Luis Obispo, California, as the happiest place to live!

Cal Poly offers a unique learning experience for its 20,000 full-time students. The campus motto, “Learn by Doing,” describes the strong commitment to experiential education. Cal Poly has been named the “Best in the West” by US News and World Report annually for over 20 years! With a strong emphasis in technical fields, Cal Poly’s College of Engineering and College of Architecture and Environmental Design are ranked among the highest academic programs in the nation. The student-to-faculty ratio is 19 to 1. The small class sizes and high faculty interaction offer students a learning opportunity rarely found in a large public institution. 

Perhaps the best part about working at Cal Poly is the opportunity to interact with the students. Cal Poly has extremely competitive admissions standards with an average high school grade point average of over 3.8. Students declare a major prior to being admitted to Cal Poly and begin major classes their first quarter. In addition to taking a rigorous academic course load, students are actively involved in leadership opportunities offered in on-campus housing and through over 400 campus clubs, organizations and various intramural sports. On any given day, students may be involved in academic labs and projects, working on agricultural production industries on campus or participating in community service outreach. In their spare time, students enjoy surfing, mountain biking, shopping or hanging out downtown, campus recreational activities, or weekend trips snowboarding or skiing in the Sierra Nevada Mountains.

You can learn much more about our campus and student body by reviewing the Cal Poly Fact Book!

Major Attractions In and Around San Luis Obispo

• Thursday Night Farmer’s Market
• Cal Poly Performing Arts Center
• Mission San Luis Obispo
• Architectural Village in Poly Canyon
• Hiking - Bishop’s Peak, Montaña de Oro State Park, Poly Canyon
• Beaches - Avila Beach, Pismo Beach, Morro Bay
• Shopping - Target, Costco, Pottery Barn, Apple Farm and numerous other local shops
• Restaurants - Madonna Inn, Splash Café, Gus’s Grocery, MoTav and dozens more
• Relaxation - Madonna Inn, Avila Hot Springs and Day Spa
• Wine Country - There are over 200 wineries in San Luis Obispo County

Current Staff Members

Traveling To and From San Luis Obispo

SLO is located on U.S. Highway 101 and features both Amtrak bus and train service to the greater Bay Area and Los Angeles. Driving times to the Bay Area and Los Angeles are approximately 3.5-4 hours. There is also a small regional airport with daily flights to LAX, SFO, and Phoenix. Santa Maria, located about a half hour south, also offers flights to Las Vegas.

For more information about San Luis Obispo, we encourage you to visit the San Luis Obispo Chamber of Commerce website, or SLO’s tourism site, VisitSLO.