By Carolina Maciel and Matthew Acosta, Sept. 27, 2022
U.S. News released their 2022-2023 Best College rankings on September 12, which revealed Cal Poly Pomona as the No. 2 public university in the west among other high rankings.
CPP also ranked No. 4 innovative university and No. 6 best undergraduate teaching in the west. The College of Engineering was also recognized as one of the top ten programs nationally.
Over the last five years, Cal Poly Pomona has climbed 14 places in the “Top Regional Universities West” category, with increasing recognition for its high-quality education and commitment to experiential learning and professional readiness.
“Doing well in the rankings is inspirational,” said Senior Media Relations Specialist, Cynthia A. Peters. “We are being successful and recognized for the efforts of providing high-quality education at a good value to a diverse student body, who are taking the education and skills that they get at Cal Poly Pomona and being successful.”
In the spring and summer of 2022, top academics were surveyed to gather data for university’s rankings. The scales are calibrated through 10 classifications which then are displayed through 17 indicators of academic quality.
These rankings are mainly used for students in high school or in community colleges looking for which school they will be attending next. However, the recognition has boosted morale among faculty and staff.
With nearly 5,000 engagements on the CPP Instagram platform, this announcement has led to students taking notice of the school’s accomplishments.
Manufacturer engineering student Antony Rozle was not at all surprised that Cal Poly Pomona was ranked so highly in the recent rankings.
“I’ve already experienced the type of quality that it already has, it being my second year. I understand the quality in teaching and how I’m more hands-on in most of my labs and lectures,” said Rozle. “I already know how good of a quality school this is, so it doesn’t surprise me about the ranking.”
The ranking’s importance does lie with the future of the university with so many potential students looking to online rankings to assist them in making their college decisions.
Business administration and marketing management student Jasmine Raigoza remembers her own experience of going through her own college selection process.
“I actually started going to Cal Poly because I heard it was one of the best schools,” said Raigoza. “I see it as a very intelligent and hands-on learning school. It gets me more excited to learn and be at Cal Poly.”
Through these rankings, the university will also look to do its best to capitalize on its achievements through various marketing strategies through social media, business fairs and advertising the rankings to potential students.
“Another point of marketing is for employers, if they see that we are a top university and we are successful and considered innovative and we have great teaching, then there may be employers that get a career fair invitation and they may be more inclined to go,” said Peters. “So that can help our current students as well as alumni as the reputation grows.”
Finding the perfect college is a decision that will affect the lives of each and every student. This is where these rankings can come into the living rooms of families throughout California and even beyond in considering CPP.
“As a parent, if my son was going to look at a college that had a top ranking for undergraduate teaching, it is a great third-party endorsement,” said Peters. “As a professor, I would be very excited to buy the best undergraduate teaching. I would feel validated and inspired to keep doing the work that we were doing and keep improving. We are a great school and we are going to help everyone be successful.”
Having the College of Engineering being ranked in the top 10 nationally is easily one of the bigger accomplishments when looking at the rankings. Charles Naff-Rhymer, a mechanical engineering student, thinks that the recognition is a great representation of his college’s hard work.
“I think (the ranking) only validates the experience I believe I’m having compared to other people,” said Naff-Rhymer. “As students you know that what your doing is really hard, but you also know that you are getting a good education because a lot of the teachers here really care about their students succeeding and a lot of the teachers are faculty advisors for research projects, so they are really involved in the community.”
With CPP rising quickly over the past years through the rankings, there does not seem to be an end to this positive trend that the university has been on.
“They’re always tweaking the rankings, but I don’t anticipate much change. It would be great the more people know us the more we will rise. But I know the faculty is always striving to improve,” said Peters. “I think the CSU, in general, will continue to be the best value and certainly with the quality of education. At Cal Poly Pomona we are going to continue to be the best value as it is an incredibly high-quality education, plus with the CSU tuition price, it’s amazing.”
Feature image by Darren Loo