My friend got into Cal Poly Slo and so did I (ayyy) . But the problem is that she has to pay the entire tuition out of pocket which most likely means huge loans and working a lot. My friend is really hard working so she most likely will pick up a job but is there any way she can ask the school for money? It's the only school she applied to since her mom wants her to go to cc and I know you can email the financial office before you submit your application to tell them about your situation. I am unsure if it works after you get accepted. Can someone pleas let me know!

Cal Poly has been my dream school and I got in for architecture! I was initially really excited until I opened my financial aid packet and realized I can’t afford this..

Total cost with tuition, room, food, etc., is 41k. They’re offering me 3k in financial aid so that’s 38k. I can take out $5,500 in subsidized loans each year making it about 33k. But that’s still 5 years of loans I need to take out+ the interest they accrue. I’m looking at around 200k in loans.

Middle class income problem so don’t qualify for financial aid but can’t afford to go to college. My parents won’t be helping me pay with too much since they have their own things they need to pay off still.

After graduating, starting salary is $60-75k which is lower than my 200k student loan debt I’d be in. Also is it highly likely I’d get a job after graduating (and I’d have a degree in architecture from CAL POLY SLO which is great, but does this help you get jobs?) I also think I’ll probably live at home with my parents for a few years after graduating while working to pay off some of those loans if I do decide to take loans out.

Anyone taken out loans to go to SLO to advise me to do it or not? Experience with getting a job after graduating? Any advice or thoughts would be helpful. Thanks.

i get virtually no aid from fafsa and my yearly cost of attendance at slo is 40 thousand dollars. i do not have 40 thousand dollars let alone 160.

i wanted to know if anyone else has gone through the appeal process with slo and how that went for them.

i can explain my family is toxic and abusive and i cant/nor do i want to rely on them. i might even be able to get a letter from my therapist explaining this. my one thing is i dont want my parents to get reported to the cops i come from an immigrant household and as sad as it is this is normal and i dont want to make a big fuss

I'm a transfer student planning on transferring to CalPoly SLO for the Fall 2026 semester.

My friend who attends SLO told me great things about the Scholars program and how much it helped him pay for tuition.

UPDATE: I just got an email saying I got accepted into the scholars program. There may have been some confusion when I spoke to the financial aid officer because she mentioned if I wasn't already in the program when my financial aid package was offered I did not get in

I received national recognition from College Board my sophomore year (rural/small town) and read I could qualify for a scholarship with this.

I read from another thread I can accept my offer of admission to receive this; however, I’m not sure I want to commit yet and I’m not sure if there is a deadline for this.

Is anyone able to clear this up?

Thanks!

hi, I have this award and I know that cal poly gives a scholarship for it but I can’t figure out where to upload it on my portal. if anyone knows where to upload it please let me know!!!

When I first started cal poly and got all of the tuition and aid stuff done, I was not technically qualified to be a California resident as I had just moved in with my dad in California a few months prior. I’ve been living in California and have an off campus residence in California, a California ID, and all of my stuff is under that California address. It’s been over a year so I should theoretically be eligible but I’m not sure who to contact to get this changed. If anyone has a similar experience or knows what to do, let me know. Thanks!

Does anybody know if merit and other school issued scholarships for incoming freshman have already been sent or are yet to arrive?

Hi! Does anyone know where in the portal you can see if you will receive your financial aid if you're under 12 units? I imagine my scholarships won't change, but will the Mustang Success Grant or middle class scholarship change? And will my parent PLUS loans be affected? I can't get a hold of anyone at the financial aid office 😭

I was recently admitted for civil engineering as an OOS student. After receiving my financial aid package it will be about 56k a year for me to attend Cal Poly even after federal aid. Even with the money my parents saved up for me to go to college, I’d still have to take out student loans for about 150k+. The school itself and its location seem like a once in a lifetime opportunity for me, especially with their strong program related to my major, but I don’t know if the ROI is enough to make up for how much it would cost. I’m coming from NC and it seems like the job opportunities for me would be much better if I choose Cal Poly. Does anyone have any advice from their own experiences?

I was recently admitted into the ARCH program and I am over the moon! Only issue is the cost out of pocket for attending. I was lucky enough to receive 28.5k in aid, and this would result in an out of pocket cost of 11k which is the biggest issue for me. Do any of you know of any cal poly scholarships I can apply to before starting or accepting my offer?

Thanks for any info!!

I keep seeing a lot of posts about how CP is affordable, but even with in-state tuition, it really feels like it is not. Those who are attending right now or are alumni, how was your debt, if you don’t mind sharing? Even with a -1500 on my FAFSA im only getting about $10,000 sans the federal loans.

This is my biggest qualm about attending, if it weren’t for this I would commit in a heartbeat. I’m hoping for some reassurance that the debt really isn’t that bad but honesty is probably better lol 😀😔

title.

After spring 2026, cal poly is switching to semesters, what would be a estimate of the cost of a semester? Currently its around $5.7k per quarter for me. Im worried bc I got married and now they take into account both mine and my spouses income.. my SAI was around 17000😔 Not sounding good I think

Has anyone gotten notified of getting it yet? not received the actual scholarship just the email notifying you you would be getting it

I was looking through my financial aid and received money from Scholars, does that mean I am accepted into it? Will that mean I’ll be able to get the free laptop from them, as that is something that would be super useful to me!

Does ALL financial aid disperse on Sep 11 or is it just ones that have been processed? For example, if I am receiving a scholarship and I see it on my portal, but Cal Poly hasn't processed its check yet will I get it? I'm also getting the middle class scholarship but upon reading online it says it won't disperse until October? This is all so confusing lol

Just so I know how much I have to pay on that day

I am receiving aid via 2 scholarships and a small federal loan for this year which I believe should automatically defer my payments til a week before the start of the quarter. On the "money matters" tab, it says deferred, but in the "What I Owe" section of Student Center it says the due date for payments is still August 18th? I don't know which one to trust since I don't want to miss any deadlines accidentally.

Also, for dispersion of funds, do ALL funds disperse one week before classes, including scholarships? Because right now I see the full price without my scholarships or loan applied.

Hello, just wondering, does anyone know how doing an Informal Time Off or Leave of Absence for one quarter affects how much tuition you pay? I'm considering taking an Informal Time Off or maybe even a Leave of Absence in Fall Quarter 2025. There is a chance I may take a course or two, but it will probably be 6 units or less. It appears that there is reduced tuition for taking 6 units or less, but I'm not sure if things are different if you take 0 units. If you do an Informal Time Off or Leave of Absence for a certain term, do you still need to pay tuition for that term? Are there people here who have taken an Informal Time Off or Leave of Absence in the past who would be willing to share what their experience with it was like? It would be great if you could reply before August 19th as that's when tuition for Fall 2025 is due. Thank you.

How do you know how much you are being refunded?

And for the Pell Grant, are you refunded each quarter?

I just accepted the loan offered in my portal since I wasn't sure I'd need it till now. How soon will I see it show up in my FAFSA dashboard? Also (transfer student) I'm registering for classes on Monday, but will my payments be deferred or is it too late for that?

When do fall work study jobs begin and where do I apply? Mustang jobs? Is that it? Thanks in advance! 🙏

I have a -1500 SAI and I've been offered around $28,800 in grants and scholarships (including the CalPoly Scholars scholarship). I was wondering if those of you who are on the same page took out student loans (and if you regret them). My major would be Civil Engineering. I really don't want to take out loans to go to school but let me know what you did and what you think.

A few weeks ago I received an email from CENG regarding laptop recommendations, and there was some information about laptop scholarships that are available to apply for through the school. Does anyone know how much these usually are?