by our College Data Analytics TeamCalifornia Lutheran University is a private not-for-profit institution in Thousand Oaks, California enrolling 2,296 undergraduates. It accepts 76% of applicants and has an on-time graduation rate of 70%, above the national average of 33%. College Factual ranks it #229 of 5,159 colleges nationwide in its 2027 Best Colleges ranking (top 4%), and its Value for Your Money analysis rates it a Fair Price.
Source: IPEDS 2025; College Scorecard July 2026; College Factual rankings 2027. Data as of: July 2026.
California Lutheran University ranks #229 of 5,159 colleges nationwide in College Factual’s 2027 Best Colleges ranking, placing it in the top 4%.
In its yearly rankings, College Factual analyzes over 2,000 colleges and universities to determine which ones are the best in a variety of categories, such as overall value, quality, diversity, which schools are the best for each major, and much more.
California Lutheran University was awarded 159 badges in the 2027 rankings.
According to College Factual’s 2027 analysis, CLU is ranked #229 out of 5,159 schools in the nation that were analyzed for overall quality. This puts it in the top 5% of all schools in the nation.
CLU is also ranked #44 on the Best Colleges in California list.
See all of the rankings for California Lutheran University.
California Lutheran University has an acceptance rate of 76%, which makes it somewhat selective. Make sure it’s not the only school you apply to, even if it’s your school of choice. Whether you get in or not will largely depend on how you compare to other applicants.
About 13% of students accepted to CLU submitted their SAT scores. When looking at the 25th through the 75th percentile, SAT Evidence-Based Reading and Writing scores ranged between 590 and 670. Math scores were between 560 and 660.
CLU received ACT scores from 3% of accepted students. When looking at the 25th through the 75th percentile, ACT Composite scores ranged between 24 and 31.
Learn more about California Lutheran University admissions.
With a student to faculty ratio of 13 to 1, California Lutheran University is about average in this regard as the nationwide rate is 15 to 1. While this does not translate directly to class size, it’s a good indicator of how much time professors will have to spend with their students on a one-on-one basis.
Another measure that is often used to estimate how much access students will have to their professors is how many faculty members are full-time. The idea here is that part-time faculty tend to spend less time on campus, so they may not be as available to students as full-timers.
The full-time faculty percentage at California Lutheran University is 100%. This is higher than the national average of 47%.
The freshmen retention rate of 79% tells us that most first-year, full-time students like California Lutheran University enough to come back for another year. This is a fair bit higher than the national average of 68%. That’s certainly something to check off in the good column about the school.
The on-time graduation rate for someone pursuing a bachelor’s degree is typically four years. This rate at CLU for first-time, full-time students is 70%, which is better than the national average of 33.3%.
Find out more about the retention and graduation rates at California Lutheran University.
In the current academic year, there are 2,296 undergraduates at CLU.
Get more detailed information on the diversity at California Lutheran University.
The overall average net price of CLU is $17,140. The affordability of the school largely depends on your financial need since net price varies by income group. See the table below for the net price for different income groups.
| $0-30 K | $30K-48K | $48-75 | $75-110K | $110K + |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $22,161 | $23,668 | $24,318 | $29,303 | $38,364 |
The net price is calculated by adding tuition, room, board and other costs and subtracting financial aid. Note that the net price is typically less than the published price for a school. For more information on the sticker price of CLU, see our tuition and fees and room and board pages.
While almost two-thirds of students nationwide take out loans to pay for college, the percentage may be quite different for the school you plan on attending. At CLU, approximately 50% of students took out student loans averaging $6,438 a year. That adds up to $25,752 over four years for those students. The student loan default rate is 2.3%. This is significantly lower than the national default rate of 10.1%, which is a good sign that you’ll be able to pay back your student loans. Get more details about paying for California Lutheran University.
The pay for some majors is higher than others, but on average, students who graduate with a bachelor’s degree from California Lutheran University make about $68,712 a year during their first few years of employment after graduation. This is good news for future California Lutheran University graduates since it is 40% more than the average college graduate’s salary of $49,219 per year.
See which majors at California Lutheran University make the most money.
California Lutheran University is an private not-for-profit institution situated in Thousand Oaks, California. The location of the school is great for students who enjoy the amenities of city life. Get more details about the location of California Lutheran University.
Contact information for California Lutheran University are given below.
| Contact Details | |
|---|---|
| Address: | 60 W Olsen Rd, Thousand Oaks, CA 91360-2787 |
| Phone: | 8054922411 |
| Website: | www.callutheran.edu/ |
| Wikipedia: | en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_Lutheran_University |
| Facebook: | www.facebook.com/callutheran |
| Twitter: | twitter.com/CalLutheran |
During the most recent year for which we have data, students from 24 majors graduated from California Lutheran University. The following table lists the most popular undergraduate majors along with the average salary graduates from those majors make.
| Most Popular Majors | Completions | Average Salary of Graduates |
|---|---|---|
| Multi-Disciplinary Studies | 1,131 | NA |
| Business Administration & Management | 165 | $69,099 |
| General Psychology | 89 | $28,005 |
| Health & Physical Education | 74 | $20,692 |
| Computer Information Systems | 55 | NA |
| Clinical & Counseling Psychology | 52 | NA |
| Student Counseling | 51 | $51,621 |
| General Biology | 50 | $26,541 |
| General Education | 45 | NA |
| Mental & Social Health Services | 43 | $42,942 |
55 students took at least one online class at California Lutheran University.
Online learning options are becoming more and more popular at American colleges and universities. Online classes are great for students who have busy schedules or for those who just want to study on their own time.
Learn more about online learning at California Lutheran University.
Want to see how other colleges compare to CLU? Pit them head to head with College Combat, a free interactive tool for comparing colleges on the features you care about.
Footnotes
*The racial-ethnic minorities count is calculated by taking the total number of students and subtracting white students, international students, and students whose race/ethnicity was unknown. This number is then divided by the total number of students at the school to obtain the racial-ethnic minorities percentage.
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