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Cuesta College

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Cuesta College is a public institution located in San Luis Obispo, California. The suburban atmosphere of San Luis Obispo makes it a great place for students who want the amenities of city life without actually living in the middle of a constant hustle and bustle.

2,987 Full-Time Undergraduates
$1,288 Avg In-State Tuition

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Cuesta College Rankings

Cuesta College is ranked #69 out of 1,440 schools in the nation for overall quality on our 2023 Best Colleges list. This lands it a coveted spot in the top 5% of all colleges and universities in the country. Out of the 94 colleges in California, it is ranked at #8.

These rankings may look different from those published by other outlets, because we use an outcomes-based approach rather than a subjective one. We get our data from a number of places, including the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) and the College Scorecard. For more information, check out our rankings and methodology page.

Cuesta College has also been awarded the following overall awards by our latest rankings.

Rank Ranking Name Share
#19 Best Associate Degree Trade Schools Tweet It - Post It
#22 Best Undergraduate Certificate Trade Schools Tweet It - Post It
#26 Best Basic Certificate Trade Schools Tweet It - Post It

Program Level Awards

These are highlights of some of the most noteworthy awards granted to specific programs at Cuesta College.

Rank Ranking Name Share
#3 Best Mental & Social Health Services Associate Degree Trade Schools Tweet It - Post It
#5 Best Health Sciences & Services Associate Degree Trade Schools Tweet It - Post It
#7 Best Value Mental & Social Health Services Undergraduate Certificate Schools Tweet It - Post It
#12 Best Clinical/Medical Laboratory Science Basic Certificate Trade Schools Tweet It - Post It
#14 Best Allied Health Professions Basic Certificate Trade Schools Tweet It - Post It
#14 Best Value Health Sciences & Services Associate Degree Schools Tweet It - Post It
#22 Best Value Clinical/Medical Laboratory Science Basic Certificate Schools Tweet It - Post It
#31 Best Allied Health Services Basic Certificate Trade Schools Tweet It - Post It
#36 Best Value Allied Health Professions Basic Certificate Schools Tweet It - Post It
#50 Best Nursing & Nursing Assistants Basic Certificate Trade Schools Tweet It - Post It

Awards From Around the Web

The following table lists some notable awards Cuesta College has earned from around the web.

Rank Ranking Name Source
#7 Best Psychiatric/Mental Health Services Technician Schools College Factual
#8 Best Mental & Social Health Services Associate Degree Schools College Factual
#12 Best General Health Services/Allied Health/Health Sciences Associate Degree Schools College Factual
#14 Best Health Sciences & Services Associate Degree Schools College Factual
#16 Best Substance Abuse/Addiction Counseling Schools College Factual
#172 Best Nursing Schools Nursing Degree Search

Where Is Cuesta College?

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Contact details for Cuesta College are given below.

Contact Details
Address: Highway 1, San Luis Obispo, CA 93403-8106
Phone: 805-546-3100
Website: www.cuesta.edu

Can I Afford Cuesta College?

$1,288 In-State Tuition
4% Take Out Loans
8.7% Loan Default Rate
For the 2019-2020 academic year, part-time Cuesta College students paid $46 per credit hour if they lived in-state. Out-of-state students paid $309 per credit hour. The costs for full-time students are given in the table below.

In State Out of State
Tuition $1,288 $8,652
Fees $50 $50
Books and Supplies $1,125 $1,125

Student Loan Debt

It's not uncommon for college students to take out loans to pay for school. In fact, almost 66% of students nationwide depend at least partially on loans. At Cuesta College, approximately 4% of students took out student loans averaging $5,741 a year. That adds up to $22,964 over four years for those students.

The student loan default rate at Cuesta College is 8.7%. Although this is lower than the national default rate of 10.1%, you'll still want to keep this in mind when taking out student loans.

Cuesta College Undergraduate Student Diversity

2,987 Full-Time Undergraduates
54% Women
43% Racial-Ethnic Minorities*
There are 10,093 undergraduate students at Cuesta College, with 2,987 being full-time and 7,106 being part-time.

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Gender Diversity

Of the 2,987 full-time undergraduates at Cuesta College, 46% are male and 54% are female.

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Racial-Ethnic Diversity

The racial-ethnic breakdown of Cuesta College students is as follows.

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Race/Ethnicity Number of Grads
Asian 101
Black or African American 52
Hispanic or Latino 947
White 1,620
International Students 18
Other Races/Ethnicities 249

Online Learning at Cuesta College

8,486 Took All Classes Online
9,691 Took At Least One Class Online
114.0% Avg Growth Over 4 Years
In 2019-2020, 9,691 students took at least one online class at the school.

The following chart shows how the online learning population at Cuesta College has changed over the last few years.

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Online Growth Rankings of Cuesta College

The average growth rate over the last four years of online students at Cuesta College was 114.0%. This is the #312 largest growth rate of all schools that are mostly online. This refers to all students at Cuesta College regardless of major.

When we speak of partially online, we are referring to schools whose online population is less than 50% of its total student body. Mostly online refers to those with online populations greater than or equal to 50%.

Cuesta College Trade School Concentrations

The table below shows the number of awards for each concentration.

Major Basic Certificate Associate’s Undergraduate Certificate TOTAL
Emergency Medical Technology/Technician (EMT Paramedic) 135 4 0 139
General Health Services/Allied Health/Health Sciences 3 117 0 120
Phlebotomy Technician/Phlebotomist 78 0 0 78
Psychiatric/Mental Health Services Technician 0 13 58 71
Medical/Clinical Assistant 57 9 0 66
Welding Technology/Welder 28 9 12 49
Licensed Practical/Vocational Nurse Training 0 9 28 37
Substance Abuse/Addiction Counseling 25 2 0 27
General Electrical/Electronics Equipment Installation and Repair 25 2 0 27
Automobile/Automotive Mechanics Technology/Technician 7 6 9 22
Nursing Assistant/Aide and Patient Care Assistant/Aide 21 0 0 21
Electrician 0 2 7 9
Building Construction Technology 0 2 2 4
Autobody/Collision & Repair Technology/Technician 3 1 0 4
General Cooking & Related Culinary Arts 4 0 0 4
Other Electromechanical & Instrumentation & Maintenance Technologies/Technicians 0 0 0 0
Mechanical Engineering/Mechanical Technology 0 0 0 0
TOTAL 386 176 116 678

References

*The racial-ethnic minorities count is calculated by taking the total number of students and subtracting white students, international students, and students whose race/ethnicity was unknown. This number is then divided by the total number of students at the school to obtain the racial-ethnic minorities percentage.

More about our data sources and methodologies.

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