Journalism Public Accountability

Cal Poly Journalism is an Accredited Journalism Program

Accredited by the Accrediting Council on Education in Journalism and Mass Communications

Accredited status received in 2020

Accreditation Information and Reports

Student Data and Public Accountability Information

Strategic Action Plan

Long-range planning information for the Journalism Department is provided by Cal Poly's Academic Affairs division. The most up-to-date plan is VIEWABLE HERE: 2025-2026.

Journalism Program Data

The information below is updated as it becomes available through Cal Poly Institutional Research. Requests have been made for missing data and additional information will be added as it becomes available.

Most Recent Essential Program Data Summary Report: Fall 2025

College of Liberal Arts (CLA) Degrees Awarded Profile

The following notes explain how Institutional Research reports degree data:

As of summer 2026 and earlier, a college year consists of all four academic quarters, with the summer quarter serving as the lead quarter. For example, summer 2020 is part of college year 2020–21.
Institutional Research now reports degrees awarded based on the student's actual term of completion rather than the date the degree was posted. This provides more accurate completion and graduation-rate reporting, though figures may change in future publications when degrees are posted retroactively.
Degrees awarded is not an unduplicated headcount. Students who receive more than one degree are counted for each degree received.

Journalism Bachelor's Degrees Awarded

	2017-18	2018-19	2019-20	2020-21	2021-22	2022- 23	2023- 24	2024- 25
Total Awarded	86	91	81	74	58	50	88	84
Gender
Men	17.4%	24.4%	22.2%	25.7%	20.7%	26%	17%	28.6%
Women	82.6%	75.6%	77.8%	74.3%	79.3%	74%	83%	71.4%
Ethnic Grouping
Under Represented Minorities	18.6%	20.0%	27.2%	25.7%	20.7%	20%	23.9%	16.7%
Non-Under Represented Minorities	81.4%	80.0%	72.8%	74.3%	79.3%	80%	76.1%	83.3%
Ethnic Origin
Hispanic/Latino	15.1%	14.4%	22.2%	18.9%	17.2%	20%	22.7%	14.3%
African American	1.2%	–	1.2%	–	1.7%	-	-	2.4%
Native American	–	–	–	–	–	-	-
Asian American	5.8%	3.3%	6.2%	8.1%	6.9%	4%	5.7%	7.1%
Multi-Racial	2.3%	8.9%	9.9%	13.5%	12.1%	2%	4.5%	3.6%
White	72.1%	68.9%	54.3%	58.1%	58.6%	68%	67%	71.4%

(JOUR Bachelor Degrees Awarded)

Source: Institutional Research
Note: Institutional Research now reports degrees awarded based on the students’ actual term of completion rather than the date the degree was posted, as was done in earlier publications. While this allows for more accurate reporting of actual completion as well as more appropriate graduation rate reporting, these figures may change in future publications because degrees can be posted for students retroactively. Degrees awarded is not an unduplicated headcount. Students who receive more than one degree are counted for each degree they receive.

First-Time Freshman Selection and Yield Rates

	Fall 2018	FALL 2019	FALL 2020	FALL 2021	FALL 2022	FALL 2023	FALL 2024	FALL 2025
Total Applications	401	396	361	425	434	571	507	515
Total Selected	195	184	225	276	256	256	315	338
Selection Rate	48.6%	46.5%	62.3%	64.9%	59%	44.8%	62.1%	65.6%
Total Enrolled	52	51	70	87	86	60	88	105
Yield	26.7%	27.7%	31.1%	31.5%	33.6%	23.4%	27.9%	31.1%

(First-Time Freshman Selection)

Official Enrollment Projections

Admissions Targets and Projections by Major

	Fall 2017	Fall 2018	Fall 2019	Fall 2020	Fall 2021	Fall 2022	Fall 2023	Fall 2024	fALL 2025
# UGRD Last Fall	274	283	264	250	263	269	288	314	322
# UGRD This Fall	283	264	250	263	269	288	314	367	327
# Continuing	193	206	192	183	173	189	237	256	211
# New Students	58	58	58	80	96	99	76	111	116
# First-Time Fresh	45	52	51	70	87	86	60	108	105
# Transfers	13	6	7	10	9	13	16	19	11

*NOTE: Admissions targets were last modified on 9/3/2024.

First-time Freshman Graduation and Retention

*Updated February 2025

Fall Cohort	Original cohort	No Major Change	Transfers Out of Major	Transfers Into Major	Adjusted Cohort	Still Enrolled After 1 Year	Four-Year Grad	Five-Year Grad	Six-Year Grad	Dismissed or No Longer Enrolled
2013	87	62	25	19	81	96.5%	74.4%	88.9%	92.6%	8
2014	68	56	12	30	86	94.0%	75.6%	87.2%	88.4%	10
2015	58	53	5	10	63	93.7%	64.9%	85.9%	88.7%	4
2016	58	54	4	4	58	94.8%	74.2%	81.8%	83.3%	3
2017	57	51	6	8	59	93.2%	71.8%	81.8%	85.7%	4
2018	51	34	17	19	58	94.8%	83%	92.3%	92.3%	3
2019	51	46	5	12	48	91.5%	68.6%	76.5%	78.8%	4
2020	70	64	6	12	76	90.8%	71.8%			7
2021	87	82	5	5	87	94.3%	71.7%			5
2022	85	87	8	4	81	97.5%				2
2023	60	53	7	9	62	98.4%				1
2024	88	80	8	6	86	91.9%

New Transfer Graduation and Retention