Cal Poly Bachelor’s Degree Grads Rank Third in Nation for Median Salaries on PayScale.com Survey

Cal Poly bachelor’s degree graduates rank third in the nation among more than 1,000 public and private universities for median salaries, according to PayScale.com’s 2015-16 College Salary Report.

Early career graduates with a bachelor’s degree from Cal Poly earn an average of $57,800, while graduates in mid-career earn $99,500, according to the report.

Cal Poly tied for third place with the University of Southern California on the list of bachelor’s-only graduates. Michigan Technological University topped the list, followed by Bucknell University in Pennsylvania.

“The quality of a Cal Poly Learn by Doing education is comparable to the best in the nation, and this new ranking shows that,” said Cal Poly President Jeffrey D. Armstrong. “We prepare our graduates to excel from Day One in their careers, and we give them the hands-on experiences and the critical thinking skills that help them to keep achieving at the highest levels.”

The study also broke out nine different majors/careers. Cal Poly grads tied for fifth in computer science and ranked eighth in physical/life sciences and 10th in communication/journalism.

Early-career starting salary data for each university in the PayScale report was derived from surveys of full-time employees with five or fewer years of experience in their career who hold a bachelor's degree and no higher degrees. Mid-career salary data was derived from surveys of full-time employees with at least 10 years of experience in their career or field.

The full PayScale.com report can be found at: https://www.payscale.com/college-salary-report