The Cal Poly Humboldt acceptance rate was 93.0% for first-year applicants in Fall 2025: 13,981 of 15,032 were admitted, according to the school’s Common Data Set 2025-26. Only 909 of those admits enrolled, a yield of 6.5%, or about 1 in 15. On-campus cost of attendance for a California resident is $29,894 in 2026-27.
Other sites show anything from 90% to 98% because they use different years and reporting bases. The bar is the CSU minimum: an a-g GPA of 2.5 or higher for California residents, no SAT or ACT, and enrolled first-years averaged a 3.51 GPA in Fall 2025. This is the Arcata campus, formerly Humboldt State University, and a different school from Cal Poly SLO and Cal Poly Pomona.
Cal Poly Humboldt in Brief
Cal Poly Humboldt is one of the 23 universities in the California State University system. It was Humboldt State University until January 26, 2022, when it became “California’s third polytechnic and the first in Northern California.” So the Humboldt State University acceptance rate in older lists describes the same campus.
| Fact | Value |
|---|---|
| Location | Arcata, Humboldt County |
| Former name | Humboldt State University (renamed January 26, 2022) |
| First-year acceptance rate, Fall 2025 | 93.0% |
| Average GPA of enrolled first-years, Fall 2025 | 3.51 |
| Undergraduates, Fall 2025 | 5,677 |
| Six-year graduation rate (Fall 2018 cohort) | 49% |
| Cost of attendance 2026-27, on campus, CA resident | $29,894 |
Sources: Cal Poly Humboldt Common Data Set 2025-26; NCES College Navigator; humboldt.edu (2026-27 cost of attendance).
Cal Poly Humboldt Acceptance Rate 2025: 93.0% of First-Year Applicants
The Cal Poly Humboldt acceptance rate for Fall 2025 was 93.0%, based on 15,032 first-year applicants, 13,981 admits and 909 enrolled students in section C1 of the Common Data Set 2025-26. California residents were admitted at 93.8%, out-of-state applicants at 84.8%.
| Applicant group | Applied, Fall 2025 | Admitted | Rate | Enrolled | Rate, Fall 2024 | Rate, Fall 2023 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| All first-year | 15,032 | 13,981 | 93.0% | 909 | 92.0% | 82.8% |
| In-state | 13,966 | 13,101 | 93.8% | 871 | 92.8% | 84.3% |
| Out-of-state | 962 | 816 | 84.8% | 21 | 79.7% | 46.6% |
| Transfer | 4,576 | 3,877 | 84.7% | 887 | 86.0% | 76.8% |
Source: Common Data Set 2023-24 to 2025-26, sections C1 and D2; rates calculated by CalChannel. In-state and out-of-state rows exclude 104 Fall 2025 applicants with unreported residency.
Out-of-state odds moved the most, from 46.6% in Fall 2023 to 84.8% in Fall 2025. Out-of-state applications rose 83.6% over the same two years. Students from WUE states get the WUE discount automatically on admission, but out-of-state admission rules still decide who gets in.
International applicants were admitted at 50.8% in Fall 2024 (64 of 126), up from 30.8% in Fall 2023. The Fall 2025 CDS has no separate international row.
But there’s a catch. Only 21 of the 816 out-of-state admits enrolled in Fall 2025, a yield of 2.6%.
Cal Poly Humboldt Transfer Acceptance Rate
Transfers had an 84.7% admit rate in Fall 2025 (3,877 of 4,576), and the rate has stayed between 76.8% and 86.0% every fall since 2020. That fall, 887 new transfers enrolled, almost as many as the 909 new first-years. Transfer yield runs 19-27%, against 5-12% for first-years.
Humboldt’s transfer page asks upper-division applicants for 60 or more semester units (90 quarter) and a 2.0 GPA in all transferable units attempted.
Why Do Sources Show 90% to 98%?
Humboldt acceptance rate figures online range from 90% to 98% because they describe different falls, applicant groups and reporting systems. Here is where the common ones come from:
- 93%: Common Data Set, Fall 2025 (13,981 of 15,032).
- 92%, sometimes shown as 91.97%: Common Data Set, Fall 2024 (15,358 of 16,698).
- 98%: the federal IPEDS figure for Fall 2024 on NCES College Navigator, based on 15,725 applicants, a different reporting base than the CDS for the same fall.
- 94%: matches the Fall 2025 in-state rate of 93.8%, rounded.
- 90%: a figure shown for Fall 2024 that matches neither the CDS (92.0%) nor IPEDS (98%) for that fall.
- 82.8% and 58.1%: real CDS rates for Fall 2023 and Fall 2017.
The Cal State Humboldt acceptance rate in some lists is the same campus, so check which fall a figure describes.
How Many Admitted Students Actually Enroll at Cal Poly Humboldt?
In Fall 2025, 6.5% of admitted first-years enrolled: 909 out of 13,981, or about 1 in 15. Federal data point the same way, with College Navigator reporting that 6% of Fall 2024 admits enrolled.
Here’s what the data actually shows. Over 12 falls, the share of admits who enrolled fell from 15.2% to 6.5%.
| Fall | Applied | Admitted | Rate | Enrolled | Yield |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | 11,912 | 9,119 | 76.6% | 1,386 | 15.2% |
| 2015 | 13,017 | 9,765 | 75.0% | 1,420 | 14.5% |
| 2016 | 12,967 | 9,895 | 76.3% | 1,295 | 13.1% |
| 2017 | 11,562 | 6,720 | 58.1% | 943 | 14.0% |
| 2018 | 10,957 | 8,230 | 75.1% | 1,051 | 12.8% |
| 2019 | 16,335 | 14,847 | 90.9% | 822 | 5.5% |
| 2020 | 10,244 | 8,675 | 84.7% | 543 | 6.3% |
| 2021 | 7,025 | 6,398 | 91.1% | 628 | 9.8% |
| 2022 | 9,236 | 8,302 | 89.9% | 961 | 11.6% |
| 2023 | 16,556 | 13,712 | 82.8% | 955 | 7.0% |
| 2024 | 16,698 | 15,358 | 92.0% | 909 | 5.9% |
| 2025 | 15,032 | 13,981 | 93.0% | 909 | 6.5% |
Source: Common Data Set 2014-15 to 2025-26, section C1; rate and yield calculated by CalChannel.
How CalChannel calculated this: applied, admitted and enrolled counts come from section C1 of each of the 12 Common Data Sets on humboldt.edu, downloaded October 15, 2026. Admit rate is admitted divided by applied, and yield is enrolled divided by admitted. Where no total was printed (Fall 2022), the sum by gender was used.
The table splits into two eras. From 2014 to 2018 the rate sat at 58-77% with yield at 13-15%; since 2019 the rate has stayed at 83-93% with yield at 5.5-11.6%. Enrolled first-years dropped from 1,386 to 909, a 34.4% decline.
Applications swung hard too, falling from 16,335 in Fall 2019 to 7,025 in Fall 2021. They reached 16,556 in Fall 2023, the first cycle that opened after the January 2022 rename, and Fall 2025 was down 10.0% from Fall 2024.
So a high admit rate doesn’t make Humboldt a safety school; the real decision is whether you’d enroll in Arcata.
Cal Poly Humboldt vs Cal Poly SLO and Cal Poly Pomona
| Campus | Applied | Admitted | Rate | Enrolled | Yield |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cal Poly Humboldt | 15,032 | 13,981 | 93.0% | 909 | 6.5% |
| Cal Poly SLO | 71,309 | 21,367 | 30.0% | 5,456 | 25.5% |
| Cal Poly Pomona | 48,258 | 35,688 | 74.0% | 4,004 | 11.2% |
Source: Common Data Set 2025-26, section C1, of each campus; rate and yield calculated by CalChannel.
These are three separate CSU campuses, each picked as its own choice on Cal State Apply. At Cal Poly SLO about 1 in 4 admits enroll, and it draws 4.7 times as many applicants as Humboldt. At Cal Poly Pomona about 1 in 9 enroll, against 1 in 15 at Humboldt.
The CSU Humboldt acceptance rate looks generous next to SLO’s 30.0%, yet the bigger gap is in how many admits choose to come.
How Do You Get Into Cal Poly Humboldt?
Complete the 15-unit a-g course pattern with grades of C- or better, meet the CSU GPA minimum and apply through Cal State Apply. California residents need an a-g GPA of 2.5 or higher and non-residents 3.0 or higher, per Humboldt’s first-year admission page.
Cal Poly Humboldt GPA Requirements and A-G Courses
The CSU admission requirements set out the a-g pattern:
- a: 2 years of social science, including 1 year of U.S. history
- b: 4 years of English
- c: 3 years of math, four recommended
- d: 2 years of lab science, 1 biological and 1 physical
- e: 2 years in the same foreign language
- f: 1 year of visual and performing arts
- g: 1 year of an approved college-prep elective
California residents with an a-g GPA between 2.00 and 2.49 are reviewed on supplemental factors, such as:
- Living in Humboldt County or the Humboldt service region
- AVID, TRIO or similar programs
- Foster youth services
- Documented military or veteran status
- Humboldt partnerships or promise programs
Honors, AP and IB courses get extra weight for up to eight semesters. The CSU Board of Trustees permanently dropped the SAT and ACT for admission on March 23, 2022, so scores matter only for placement. Just 4% of Fall 2025 enrollees, 40 students, submitted an SAT.
The GPA of enrolled first-years has crept up: 3.23 in Fall 2019, 3.42 in Fall 2024 and 3.51 in Fall 2025. Still, 20.3% of Fall 2025 enrollees had a high school GPA between 2.0 and 2.99.
Applying for Fall 2027
- Check your a-g courses and a-g GPA.
- Submit on Cal State Apply. The Fall 2027 filing period opened October 1, 2026, and November 30, 2026 is the Cal State Apply deadline at several CSU campuses, including San José State University. Humboldt’s page says only “Fall 2027 applications are now open!” so confirm its current deadline there.
- Pay the per-campus fee or get it waived; eligible California residents can apply to up to four CSU campuses free.
- Accept on time: for Fall 2026, accepting and paying the $50 deposit was due July 1, 2026.
- Send final transcripts (due July 15, 2026 for Fall 2026).
Impacted Majors: Nursing for Transfers
The only major Humboldt lists with supplemental impaction criteria is Nursing, for transfer applicants. The 2025-26 criteria ask for an ADN, a current California RN license, a 2.75 transfer GPA and 8 nursing prerequisites. Humboldt notes that meeting CSU minimums does not guarantee admission to these majors.
Cal Poly Humboldt Tuition and Cost of Attendance 2026-27
| Cost item | With parents | On campus | Off campus |
|---|---|---|---|
| State tuition | $6,838 | $6,838 | $6,838 |
| Campus fees | $2,452 | $2,452 | $2,452 |
| Total cost of attendance | $27,674 | $29,894 | $31,056 |
Source: Cal Poly Humboldt cost of attendance 2026-2027, California residents (updated March 2026). Fees are subject to change.
For Western Undergraduate Exchange (WUE) students, estimated tuition is $12,708 per year in 2026-27, about $7,238 less than regular out-of-state tuition.
Enrollment, Graduation and Life in Arcata
The Cal Poly Humboldt student population was 5,677 undergraduates in Fall 2025, per the Common Data Set.
College Navigator puts the six-year graduation rate at 49% for the Fall 2018 cohort, with a four-year rate of 26%. Full-time retention was 76% from Fall 2023 to Fall 2024.
The campus sits in Arcata, a small city on the North Coast in Humboldt County, far from the state’s big metro areas. As the first polytechnic in Northern California, Humboldt received a $458 million investment tied to the conversion, according to the university.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is the Humboldt State acceptance rate the same as Cal Poly Humboldt’s?
Yes, it’s the same campus. Humboldt State University became Cal Poly Humboldt on January 26, 2022.
Older lists may simply show older years. For example, the 58.1% figure that still circulates is the real rate for Fall 2017, while Fall 2025 was 93.0%.
What is the Cal Poly Humboldt average GPA?
Enrolled first-years averaged a 3.51 high school GPA in Fall 2025, up from 3.42 in Fall 2024. That figure describes students who enrolled, not everyone admitted.
The minimum for California residents is a 2.5 a-g GPA. About 20.3% of Fall 2025 enrollees had a GPA below 3.0, so a mid-range transcript is common here.
Is Cal Poly Humboldt a good school?
The six-year graduation rate is 49% (Fall 2018 cohort) and full-time retention is 76%, according to College Navigator.
It’s a small campus, with 5,677 undergraduates in Fall 2025. It also became California’s third polytechnic in 2022. Visit or talk to current students before you decide whether that setting fits.
Does Cal Poly Humboldt require the SAT or ACT?
It doesn’t. The CSU Board of Trustees permanently discontinued SAT and ACT scores for admission in March 2022.
Scores can still be used for course placement. Only 4% of Fall 2025 enrollees, 40 students, submitted an SAT score.
Does Cal Poly Humboldt have a nursing program?
Yes, it offers a BSN, but the program is built for nurses. There’s a part-time RN to BSN track for working RNs and a concurrent ADN to BSN path with a community college partner.
Nursing is also the only major with supplemental impaction criteria for transfers (2025-26). Those criteria include a current California RN license and a 2.75 transfer GPA.
Should Cal Poly Humboldt Be on Your List?
Humboldt admitted 93.0% of first-year applicants in Fall 2025, but only about 1 in 15 admits enrolled, compared with about 1 in 4 at Cal Poly SLO.
It fits eligible California residents with an a-g GPA of 2.5 or higher who want a small North Coast campus. Students from WUE states also get a real price break, since the WUE award is automatic on admission.
Our take: for an eligible applicant, the Cal Poly Humboldt acceptance rate means admission is likely, so spend your energy on whether you’d actually enroll in Arcata. Visit if you can, and run the college’s net price calculator before you commit.
Sources
- Cal Poly Humboldt IRAR, Common Data Sets 2014-15 to 2025-26
- Cal Poly Humboldt Admissions, First-Year Students
- California State University admission requirements (CSU University Catalog 2026-27 text)
- NCES College Navigator, California State Polytechnic University-Humboldt
- San José State University, Admission Deadlines (Cal State Apply Fall 2027 window)
- Cal Poly Humboldt Financial Aid, Cost of Attendance 2026-2027
