California State University-Monterey Bay Acceptance Rate & Admissions

Admission is broadly available at California State University-Monterey Bay, which admitted 97.4% of applicants in the reported entering class. That rate is above the median of 85.9% for comparable institutions (same type and size), indicating a less restrictive admission outcome than its institutional peers.

Transfer pathways are a central part of the undergraduate mix at California State University-Monterey Bay: an estimated 50.0% of undergraduates entered as transfers, within undergraduate enrollment of 6,819. Pell Grant recipients account for 43.2% of undergraduates, placing financial access alongside a large group continuing college work begun elsewhere.

This composition suggests a campus serving both students starting at the university and those arriving with prior college experience. Pell-eligible and transfer applicants should review aid eligibility and transfer-credit information in the university's admissions materials before applying.

For applicants from either route, the enrollment figures point to a student body shaped by more than one path into a bachelor's degree.

At California State University-Monterey Bay, the reported pattern is stronger than peer medians for both returning after the first year and finishing within six years. First-year retention stands at 79.9%, above the peer median, the middle value for comparable institutions (same type and size), of 73.7%.

The six-year graduation rate for the first-time full-time cohort is 59.1%, above the comparable-institution median of 49.1%. Pell recipients in that cohort have a six-year completion rate of 65.0%, above the overall rate by 5.9 percentage points.

Enrolled students can expect retention and overall completion that run ahead of the comparable-institution benchmarks, with Pell completion also higher than the overall rate.