California Polytechnic State University at San Luis Obispo

California Polytechnic State University

Motto	Discere Faciendo (Latin)
Motto in English	To Learn by Doing
Type	Public Space grant
Established	March 8, 1901 (1901-03-08)
Endowment	$190.3 million (2016)
President	Jeffrey Armstrong
Provost	Kathleen Enz Finken
Academic staff	1,361 (Fall 2015)
Administrative staff	1,654 (Fall 2015)
Students	21,306 (Fall 2016)
Undergraduates	20,425 (Fall 2016
Postgraduates	881 (Fall 2016)
Location	San Luis Obispo, California, U.S.
Campus	Suburban, 9,678 acres (3,917 ha) Total; 1,321 acres (535 ha) for the Main Campus; 155 acres (63 ha) for the Campus Core
Colors	Green and Gold
Athletics	NCAA Division I FCS – Big West
Nickname	Mustangs
Affiliations	California State University AASCU APLU
Mascot	Musty the Mustang
Website	www.calpoly.edu

California Polytechnic State University, also known as California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo,Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, or Cal Poly, is a public university located in San Luis Obispo, California, United States. Founded in 1901 as a vocational high school, it is currently one of only two polytechnic universities in the 23-member California State University system. With six colleges, the university offers 64 bachelor's degrees, 32 master's degrees, and 7 teaching credentials. The university does not grant doctoral degrees.

Cal Poly is known for its "learn by doing" educational philosophy that encourages students to solve real-world problems by combining classroom theory with experiential laboratory exercise. Business administration is Cal Poly's highest enrolled major, followed by mechanical engineering and biological sciences. Cal Poly is one of four California State Universities that participate in the Big West Conference in athletics, and is a member of the American Association of State Colleges and Universities (AASCU) and the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities.

Cal Poly was established as the California Polytechnic School in 1901 when Governor Henry T. Gage signed the California Polytechnic School Bill after a campaign by journalist Myron Angel. The polytechnic school held its first classes on October 1, 1903 to 20 students, offering secondary level courses of study, which took three years to complete. The school continued to grow steadily, except during a period from the mid 1910s to the early 1920s when World War I led to drops in enrollment and drastic budget cuts forced fewer class offerings.

In 1924, Cal Poly was placed under the control of the California State Board of Education. In 1933, the Board of Education changed Cal Poly into a two-year technical and vocational school. The institution began to offer Bachelor of Arts degrees in 1940, with the first baccalaureate exercises held in 1942. The school was renamed the California State Polytechnic College in 1947 to better reflect its higher education offerings, and in 1949, a Master of Arts degree in education was added. In 1960, control of Cal Poly and all other state colleges was transferred from the State Board of Education to an independent Board of Trustees, which later became the California State University system.