A Ranking That We Should All Be Proud Of

January 27, 2017

The Equality of Opportunity Project study, published Wednesday, shows that Cal Poly Pomona ranks ninth nationally when it comes to helping students climb the income ladder from the lowest fifth to the top fifth. New York Times columnist David Leonhardt, who wrote about the findings, says institutions such as ours “continue to push many Americans into the middle class and beyond — many more, in fact, than elite colleges that receive far more attention.”

That is one of our prized missions, and a central mission of the entire CSU: to improve the quality of life for individual students and their families, and benefit the entire state through their success. As you well know, our students are diverse. Among them you will find many who are the first in their family to attend college. You will find veterans and those who started college later in life. You will find those who speak English as a second language. You will find Dreamers and doers and discoverers, all enriching our campus community and the state. At Cal Poly Pomona, we take pride in making the seemingly impossible, possible.

As a polytechnic university, we make our mark as a metro-urban polytechnic that serves as the epicenter for creativity, discovery and innovation. But what makes it work is our outstanding faculty and excellent staff and administrators. I want to take this opportunity to thank each of you for being such dynamic difference-makers.

The future success of our university rests on many things, including the state’s continued investment in higher education, as well as philanthropic support. Today is a day to celebrate and to continue to dedicate ourselves to this transformational mission.

Soraya M. Coley

President