San Luis Obispo highlight
California Polytechnic State University
California Polytechnic State University, founded in 1901 and located in San Luis Obispo, serves about 21,500 students with its distinctive learn-by-doing educational philosophy.
Cal Poly was established in 1901 as the California Polytechnic School and has grown into a major public research university. The campus spans 6,000 acres on the eastern edge of San Luis Obispo, combining classrooms, labs and agricultural lands where students gain hands-on experience in engineering, agriculture, architecture and dozens of other fields.
The university's identity centers on a simple idea: students learn best by doing real work. Rather than hear about design in a lecture, they build bridges, design homes and run experiments. This approach, distinctive when the university was young, has become even more competitive as employers demand graduates who can work on a team and solve problems. Cal Poly graduates are highly recruited by technology and manufacturing companies, and the university draws students from across California and around the world.
A household with a student at Cal Poly, or a young graduate building a career in San Luis Obispo, faces the same question as every other household: who depends on that income and for how long? Term coverage sized to the years of young adulthood—when the income is still growing and the obligations are highest—fits that season of life well.