I know this is sensitive, but we are immigrant California parents with a daughter really interested in CalPoly. However, we were troubled by reports of racial incidents there. Hoping to gain insights from others. Thank you.
Here is a link to the racial composition of the undergrad class. https://www.collegefactual.com/colleges/california-polytechnic-state-university-san-luis-obispo/student-life/diversity/
As you can see, there are so few African American students there that they don’t even show up in the pie chart! 157/20,198. Race-related incidents or not, if my child were AA, I would think twice about sending them there, if you have other equally good, equally affordable options. For other racial minorities (Hispanic, Asian), I think that there are plenty in the group, so that your child would not be the only one of her race in her classes. Can you and your student go for a visit, so that you can see for yourselves?
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Somewhat dated but some parents with first hand experience suggested the headlines were sensational and inconsistent with their kids experiences.
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You may have seen this slightly more recent article from a year ago in the local SLO paper. Multiple students of color share their first-hand experiences.
https://www.sanluisobispo.com/news/local/education/article258527953.html
One or two students talk about the first time they walked around campus, so it seems wise for you to visit the campus while school is in session. You and your student will get a first-hand sense of the level of diversity (or lack thereof) and whether or not she feels like she could be comfortable. Each student is different in how it may affect them.
From the article, “Compared to every other public university in California, Cal Poly has by far the whitest, least diverse student population.”
Anecdotally, I have a connection to a couple of SLO faculty who feel the university still struggles to deal with the race-related incidents.
That being said, SLO offers a great education.
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Thank you for sharing the articles which we had not read. We did hear about the anti-Asian attacks a couple of years ago which led us to other similar articles which are troubling. We definitely plan to visit once we find out if she got in.
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I think Cal Poly has tried to attract a more diverse student body and has tried to address some of the issues they’ve had on campus. My daughter graduated from there in 2021. We are Hispanic and she felt very comfortable on campus. I think the “whiteness” of the campus population has more to do demographically with the lack of Asian students than anything else. For whatever reason, Cal Poly has not been as popular with Asian students as the UCs. I think all the UC campuses also struggle with diversity in that they have very low numbers of urm students. As California publics can’t consider race in admissions, it makes it difficult to engineer a class the way a private school would, whether you think this is a good idea or not. Cal Poly is the only California public that I know of giving scholarships for National Hispanic and African American recognition scholars.
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Which seems to reflect the city itself. I was in SLO recently for the first time and it was really noticeable just how white it is (especially coming from the Bay Area). It was something both me and my daughter noticed and commented on. In three days, we did not see a single Black person, we saw 2 or 3 Latinx folks, and one Asian who was staying at the same hotel we were. SLO seemed super white - at least based on my (admittedly very limited) experience, but it is quite noticeable when arriving there from an ethnically diverse region.
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I assume the “whitest, least diverse student population” statement is based on the raw number, which is 53.8% White in the link provided by @parentologist. This is not related to lack of any specific non-White demographic such as Asians.
In terms of “whiteness”, the alternate, less scientific way to look at it is the impression or lived experience of people who attend or visit SLO. To those prospective students who are concerned about diversity, particularly if they are non-White, these reports may be more meaningful than the raw number. Usually, students are trying to get a handle on campus culture.
Our local High School, with a decent-sized but non-majority Asian population, sends >20 students to SLO every year. There is feedback from some of the matriculated Asian students about feeling “othered” at Cal Poly. I don’t know how much of a feedback loop that causes for the next Asian students at our HS when they are deciding where to enroll.
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If you compare the actual demographics at Cal Poly to UC campuses, you’ll see that the ratio of Hispanic and African American students is not significantly different, it’s the lack of Asian students and largely Asian international students that skews the diversity data. Why do Asian students not apply to Cal Poly… I don’t know for sure. Do they feel othered as your anecdotal evidence suggests? Possibly. My own anecdotal evidence to share, my daughter’s 3 best friends in high school were Asian, two Korean, one Chinese. None of them applied to Cal Poly. All four girls had similar class rank and test scores. Cal Poly just wasn’t on their radar. It wasn’t a school that their first generation parents valued. My Hispanic daughter did not feel othered at Cal Poly and had a great four years, but obviously YMMV.
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I’m not trying to argue about SLO versus UCs. Their numbers stand on their own and this thread is about race-related incidents at SLO.
2019-2021 SLO applications per year:
~19,000 Whites
~13,000 Hispanic
~13,000 Asian
~900 Black
Anecdotally, approximately 60 Asian students from our High School apply to SLO every year. That does not include the ~20 “2 or more races” who apply, some of whom are certainly partly Asian.
For what it is worth, https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/CA,sanluisobispocitycalifornia,sanluisobispocountycalifornia/PST045222 and College Navigator - California Polytechnic State University-San Luis Obispo show the following:
| Race / ethnicity | CPSLO ug | SLO city | SLO county | California |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| White (including Hispanic or Latino) | 82.4% | 88.4% | 71.1% | |
| White (not Hispanic or Latino) | 53% | 70.7% | 67.5% | 35.2% |
| Black or African American* | 1% | 1.6% | 2.2% | 6.5% |
| American Indian and Alaska Native* | 0% | 0.4% | 1.4% | 1.7% |
| Asian* | 14% | 5.3% | 4.1% | 15.9% |
| Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander* | 0% | 0.2% | 0.2% | 0.5% |
| Two or more races* | 8% | 7.2% | 3.7% | 4.2% |
| Hispanic or Latino | 19% | 18.5% | 23.8% | 40.2% |
| Unknown | 3% | |||
| Non-resident alien | 2% |
*Includes those who are Hispanic or Latino in the city, county, and state numbers from the census, but does not include those who are Hispanic or Latino in the CPSLO numbers from NCES.
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Those stats aren’t too surprising based on the little bit of local life I saw there.
By the way, I am truly happy to hear that your daughter loved it. I am rather fond of the school myself.
At the same time, I know that it is not for everyone. And I advocate for prospective students getting as much input as possible to help them determine interest and fit for them. Each one comes from a different background, with different priorities.
Just a reminder to keep this focused on the OP’s questions. Please try not to diverge into race on California public U campuses or race in general.
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Oops, posting at the same time as @Lindagaf.
Deleted.
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Thank you everyone for sharing your insights. We know this is a sensitive issue and there are no easy answers. If our daughter does get accepted, we plan to visit the campus and may be talk to as many people as possible. And then she will make the decision. We know there is no such thing as a perfect campus. But we know it is better for her to have an idea of the community she hopes to join as she begins life in college. Again, thank you.
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Three of my daughter’s high school friends, one Japanese, one Chinese, one Indian are attending CalPoly and last I heard were having a blast. Anecdotal data for sure, but I would suggest an in-person visit and a “vibe-check” to use my son’s expression. When we visited, what I liked about CalPoly was the multi-racial groups hanging out. It seemed like an easy, welcoming and racially integrated atmosphere. Good luck to your daughter!
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Keep in mind that one reason that Black students don’t even “show up in the pie chart” at Cal Poly SLO is very related to the fact that the Black population of CA itself is only around 5%. Most students at Cal Poly SLO are Californians–so a correspondingly low % of CA Black students at SLO makes sense.
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5% of 20K is 1K. The AA population there is only 157, when by California’s demographics (if it is true that the population of the state is only 5% AA) , there should be over 1,000. That is only about 1/7th of what would be expected according to CA demographics.
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Black people, including those who are Hispanic or Latino, make up about 6.5% of the state of California population: https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/CA
Black students who are not Hispanic or Latino make up about 5.07% of the public K-12 students in California: Fingertip Facts on Education in California - Accessing Educational Data (CA Dept of Education)