College Factual  by our College Data Analytics Team
       Unbiased Factual Guarantee

California State Polytechnic University-Humboldt Complete Information Guide

57 awards Ranking Badges
Fair Price Value for Your Money
98% Acceptance Rate

If you want to know more about California State Polytechnic University-Humboldt, such as what majors does it offer, how diverse it is, how well it ranks, and more, this is your one-stop resource.

Want to dig deeper into a particular stat? Just click on its tile and you’ll be taken to a more in-depth page on the figure. In addition, you can use the links below to quickly jump to any section on this page.

* Rankings

How Well Is California State Polytechnic University-Humboldt Ranked?

#880 Best Colleges in Nation
#97 Best Colleges in CA
California State Polytechnic University-Humboldt ranking badge

2026 Rankings

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 State Polytechnic University-Humboldt was awarded 57 badges in the 2026 rankings.

Overall Ranking

College Factual ranked Cal Poly Humboldt as #880 out of 3,449 colleges and universities in the country on its 2026 Best Colleges list.

Cal Poly Humboldt also holds the #97 spot on the Best Colleges in California ranking.

See all of the rankings for California State Polytechnic University-Humboldt.

Is It Hard to Get Into California State Polytechnic U-Humboldt?

98% Acceptance Rate
98% Of Accepted Are Women

Acceptance Rate

With an acceptance rate of 98%, California State Polytechnic University-Humboldt is easier to get into than many other schools. But that doesn’t mean you can slack off on your application. Make sure to treat this school like any other when submitting requested materials and documents.

Learn more about California State Polytechnic University-Humboldt admissions.

Faculty at California State Polytechnic University-Humboldt

16 to 1 Student to Faculty
53% Full Time Teachers

Class Sizes

With a student to faculty ratio of 16 to 1, California State Polytechnic University-Humboldt 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.

Full-Time Instructors

In addition to the student to faculty ratio, some people look at what percentage of faculty members are full-time as a sign of how much time professors will be able to spend with their students. This is because part-time teachers may not be on campus as much as their full-time counterparts.

The full-time faculty percentage at California State Polytechnic University-Humboldt is 53%. This is higher than the national average of 47%.

Full-Time Faculty Percent  53 out of 100
0
100

Retention and Graduation Rates at California State Polytechnic University-Humboldt

76% Freshmen Retention
47% On-Time Graduation Rate

Freshman Success

The freshmen retention rate of 76% tells us that most first-year, full-time students like California State Polytechnic University-Humboldt 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.

Freshmen Retention Rate  76 out of 100
0
100

Academic Completion

The on-time graduation rate for someone pursuing a bachelor’s degree is typically four years. This rate at Cal Poly Humboldt for first-time, full-time students is 47%, which is better than the national average of 33.3%.

On-Time Graduation Rate  47 out of 100
0
100

Find out more about the retention and graduation rates at California State Polytechnic University-Humboldt.

Undergraduate Diversity at California State Polytechnic University-Humboldt

5,491 Undergraduate Students
43.7% Racial-Ethnic Minorities*
56.1% Percent Women

In the current academic year, there are 5,491 undergraduates at Cal Poly Humboldt.

Get more detailed information on the diversity at California State Polytechnic University-Humboldt.

How Much Does California State Polytechnic University-Humboldt Cost?

$16,772 Net Price
34% Take Out Loans
$25,964 Total Student Loans

The typical net cost at Cal Poly Humboldt is $16,772. 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.### Net Price by Income Group for Cal Poly Humboldt

$0-30 K $30K-48K $48-75 $75-110K $110K +
$8,090 $9,623 $13,095 $17,692 $22,695

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 Cal Poly Humboldt, see our tuition and fees and room and board pages.

Student Debt

It’s not uncommon for college students to take out loans to pay for school. In fact, almost 66% of students nationwide depend at least partially on loans. At Cal Poly Humboldt, approximately 34% of students took out student loans averaging $6,491 a year. That adds up to $25,964 over four years for those students. The student loan default rate is 9.8%. This is about the same as the national default rate of 10.1%. Get more details about paying for California State Polytechnic University-Humboldt.

Post-Graduation Earnings for California State Polytechnic U-Humboldt

$47,626 Avg Salary of Grads
Average Earnings Boost

Yearly salaries vary depending on what you major in, but on average, bachelor’s degree recipients from California State Polytechnic U-Humboldt make around $47,626 per year during the early years of their employment. This is right on par with the average college graduate’s salary of $49,219 per year. Also, graduates in your major field may make more.

See which majors at California State Polytechnic University-Humboldt make the most money.

Location of California State Polytechnic University-Humboldt

California State
5,491 Undergraduate Students
Town Campus Setting

California State Polytechnic University-Humboldt is an public institution located in Arcata, California. The surrounding location of Arcata is ideal for students who enjoy the charms of a college town. Get more details about the location of California State Polytechnic University-Humboldt.

Location of California State Polytechnic University-Humboldt

Contact information for California State Polytechnic U-Humboldt can be found below.

Contact Details
Address: 1 Harpst Street, Arcata, CA 95521-8299
Phone: 7078263011
Website: www.humboldt.edu
Facebook: www.facebook.com/humboldtstate
Twitter: twitter.com/humboldtstate

California State Polytechnic University-Humboldt Academic Programs

25 Majors With Completions
3,140 Undergraduate Degrees

In the latest year of available data, students from 25 majors graduated from California State Polytechnic University-Humboldt. 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 1,570 NA
General Psychology 160 $24,108
Natural Resources Conservation 149 $31,642
General Biology 119 $25,491
Business Administration & Management 99 $32,215
Social Work 96 $42,040
Wildlife Management 88 $23,995
Health & Physical Education 67 $26,980
Fine & Studio Arts 63 $20,861
Other Interdisciplinary Studies 58 $22,237

Learn more about the majors offered at California State Polytechnic University-Humboldt along with which ones have the highest average starting salaries.

Online Learning at Cal Poly Humboldt

58% Take At Least One Class Online
8% Take All Classes Online

Online learning is becoming popular at even the oldest colleges and universities in the United States. Not only are online classes great for returning adults with busy schedules, they are also frequented by a growing number of traditional students.

3,169 students took at least one online class at California State Polytechnic University-Humboldt.

Learn more about online learning at California State Polytechnic University-Humboldt.

Comparable CollegesInterested in comparing Cal Poly Humboldt? Compare them side by side using College Combat, our free tool for head-to-head college comparisons.

Notes and References

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.

References

Popular Reports

College Rankings
Best by Location
Degree Guides by Major
Graduate Programs

Compare Your School Options