Program Information Founded in 1901 as a vocational high school, California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo (Cal Poly) is now one of only two polytechnic universities in the California State University system. Cal Poly currently has a student body of over 20,000 and employs roughly 2,800 faculty and staff. Cal Poly is a nationally ranked teaching university whose guiding philosophy is ???learn by doing.??? Its students benefit from this practical emphasis, resulting in Cal Poly achieving one of the highest ROI (???returns on investment???) of the nation???s public universities.