Cal Poly vs Johns Hopkins

California Polytechnic State University-San Luis Obispo (Cal Poly) and Johns Hopkins University (JHU) stand as two distinct academic institutions, each offering unique educational experiences. Cal Poly, a public polytechnic university, emphasizes hands-on learning and boasts a strong reputation in engineering, agriculture, and architecture. JHU, a private research university, excels in the fields of medicine, public health, and international studies. While both universities share a commitment to academic excellence, they differ significantly in terms of acceptance rates, popular majors, student body demographics, and graduation rates. Explore the comprehensive comparison table below to discover which university better aligns with your academic aspirations and personal preferences.

	California Polytechnic State University-San Luis Obispo	Johns Hopkins University
Overview
Location	San Luis Obispo, California	Baltimore, Maryland
Campus setting	Suburb: Small	City: Large
College type	4 year	4 year
Control/business model	Public	Private (Non Profit)
Calendar system	Quarter	Semester
Degrees offered	Undergraduate and Graduate	Undergraduate and Graduate
Students retention rate	95.0%	96.0%
Common app member	No	Yes
Religious affiliation

Admission
Acceptance rate	33.0%	7.5%
Application fees	Undergraduate: $70 Graduate: $70	Undergraduate: $70 Graduate: $75
SAT range	N/A	N/A
ACT range	N/A	N/A
Students submitting SAT score
Students submitting ACT score
Total number of applicants	54,570	39,515
Total number of admissions given out	18,008	2,972
Admitted students who chose to enroll	4,884	1,420
Yield rate	27.1%	47.8%
Test scores (SAT/ACT)	N/A	N/A
High school GPA	Required	Required
Recommendation letters	Not required	Required
High school transcript	Not required	Not required
English proficiency test (e.g. TOEFL)	Not required	Required

Tuition and Fees
Sticker price	In state: $29,680 Out of state: $47,590	$74,583
Average net price	$20,708	$20,680
Tuition	In state: $5,742 Out of state: $17,622	$58,720
Room & board	Room/dormitory: $9,642 Meal plan: $6,138	Room/dormitory: $9,736 Meal plan: $7,064
Available payment plans		Prepaid tuition plan Tuition payment plan

Financial Aid
Students receiving financial aid (Grants & scholarships)	55.0% Average amount $5,988	66.0% Average amount $45,373
Students receiving federal student loan	24.0% Average amount $5,023	10.0% Average amount $4,894
Students taking out private loans	1.0% Average amount $22,714	3.0% Average amount $23,253

Students and Campus
Undergraduate students	21,128 Men 51.2% Women 48.8%	6,132 Men 44.9% Women 55.1%
Graduate students	1,103 Men 50.4% Women 49.6%	25,917 Men 45.6% Women 54.4%
Racial/ethnic diversity	Moderate	Moderate
Out-of-state students	20.6%	N/A
International students	2.3%	22.5%
Campus local/setting	Suburb: Small	City: Large
Dormitory capacity	8,147	2,717
First year students are required to live on campus?	No	No
Top 5 states where most U.S. students come from	California Washington Colorado Oregon Texas	N/A

Academics
Popular study areas	Engineering Business Agriculture Architecture Biological and Biomedical Sciences	Health Professions Business Engineering Social Sciences Education
Students to faculty ratio	21:1	6:1
Institutional accreditation	Western Association of Schools and Colleges Senior Colleges and University Commission	Middle States Commission on Higher Education

Outcome
Graduation rate	85.4%	94.6%
Dropout rate	12.5%	2.6%
Transferred out	1.2%	2.4%
Alumni salary by major (Top 10)	Computer and Information Sciences, General (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $88,197 Year 2: $120,462 Year 3: $143,849 Electrical, Electronics and Communications Engineering (Master's Degrees) Year 1: $104,015 Year 2: $101,964 Year 3: $116,606 Computer Engineering (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $91,493 Year 2: $93,964 Year 3: $106,798 Fire Protection (Master's Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $97,071 Year 3: $103,907 Construction Engineering Technologies (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $79,656 Year 2: $82,780 Year 3: $96,152 Industrial Engineering (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $72,643 Year 2: $73,562 Year 3: $90,242 Engineering, General (Master's Degrees) Year 1: $74,873 Year 2: $78,971 Year 3: $90,194 Aerospace, Aeronautical and Astronautical Engineering (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $74,220 Year 2: $76,460 Year 3: $89,378 Accounting and Related Services (Master's Degrees) Year 1: $66,920 Year 2: $70,886 Year 3: $87,984 Electrical, Electronics and Communications Engineering (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $79,454 Year 2: $79,647 Year 3: $87,345	Systems Engineering (Master's Degrees) Year 1: $114,155 Year 2: $111,563 Year 3: $131,276 Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing (First Professional Degrees) Year 1: $122,031 Year 2: $125,015 Year 3: $130,945 Computer and Information Sciences, General (Master's Degrees) Year 1: $111,651 Year 2: $118,848 Year 3: $129,740 Computer and Information Sciences, General (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $105,950 Year 2: $108,649 Year 3: $122,951 Business/Commerce, General (Master's Degrees) Year 1: $109,954 Year 2: $101,406 Year 3: $114,349 Electrical, Electronics and Communications Engineering (Master's Degrees) Year 1: $101,186 Year 2: $104,192 Year 3: $113,392 Business Administration, Management and Operations (Master's Degrees) Year 1: $99,074 Year 2: $106,421 Year 3: $112,352 Information Science/Studies (Master's Degrees) Year 1: $108,932 Year 2: $100,405 Year 3: $110,364 Finance and Financial Management Services (Master's Degrees) Year 1: $78,878 Year 2: $98,847 Year 3: $107,818 Economics (Master's Degrees) Year 1: $95,401 Year 2: $91,448 Year 3: $106,834

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Cal Poly vs Johns Hopkins

California Polytechnic State University-San Luis Obispo

Johns Hopkins University

Overview

Admission

Tuition and Fees

Financial Aid

Students and Campus

Academics

Outcome

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