University of California-Merced
Merced, CA5200 North Lake Road, Merced, CA 95343-5603
209-228-4400
The University of California, Merced (UC Merced) is the tenth and newest of the University of California campuses. It is located in the San Joaquin Valley in unincorporated Merced County, California, United States, near the city of Merced. UC Merced opened on September 5, 2005 as the first American research university to be built in the 21st century. UC Merced is the smallest and also the youngest of the ten campuses of the University of California system, and as of 2019 the only one to be located outside California's major metropolitan areas.
The campus sits on 1,750 acres (710 ha) of land near Lake Yosemite in the Sierra Nevada foothills, a region of the state known for its agriculture and tourism. The university is a member of the Association of American Universities and is categorized as an R1 Doctoral Research University in the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education.
As of 2019, UC Merced has approximately 8,400 undergraduate and graduate students, making it the second-smallest of the UC campuses behind UC Riverside. The campus features a variety of architectural styles, with the primary buildings designed by world-renowned architect Mario Schjetnan. The campus is also home to the UC Natural Reserve System's Sierra Nevada Aquatic Research Laboratory, a premier facility for studies in mountain lake ecology.
UC Merced claims to have the most ethnically and economically diverse student body of any University of California campus. In 2019, U.S. News & World Report ranked UC Merced tied for the 5th most diverse university in the United States. The university has also been recognized as a national leader in sustainability, and as of 2019, 100% of the university's power comes from renewable sources.
The University of California, Merced was founded in response to the state's rapidly growing population and the need for additional higher education opportunities in the San Joaquin Valley. The campus was built on the site of the former Castle Air Force Base in Atwater, California, which closed in 1995. The university's first students were admitted in Fall 2005.
The university's founding was unique in several respects. Unlike other University of California campuses, UC Merced did not result from the merger of existing institutions, but was proposed as an entirely new university in the late 1990s. The campus was built in an undeveloped, rural area of the state with few resources and no existing infrastructure. And, unlike other UC campuses, which are primarily located in metropolitan areas, UC Merced is located in the rural Central Valley region of California, some 120 miles (190 km) southeast of Sacramento and about a two-hour drive from the San Francisco Bay Area.
The campus is the product of a partnership between the University of California and private developers. The State of California provided $307 million for the construction of the campus, while the University of California contributed $200 million through the sale of bonds. The remaining $334 million needed to build the campus was provided by private developers, who agreed to build and finance the infrastructure for the campus in exchange for the right to develop and build commercial and residential properties on the land adjacent to the university.
The university opened with an initial student body of 1,764 students in September 2005. The campus has a current enrollment of over 8,000 students. The campus has a student-to-faculty ratio of 18:1, and over half of the classes have fewer than 20 students.
The university offers undergraduate degrees in 37 majors and 55 minors, as well as graduate degrees in 19 different fields. The most popular majors at UC Merced include Biology, Psychology, Political Science, and Economics.
UC Merced is accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges. The university's School of Engineering is accredited by the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology, and the School of Management is accredited by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business.
UC Merced is a member of the Association of American Universities, and is classified as a "Research 1" university by the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education. In 2019, U.S. News & World Report ranked UC Merced tied for the 5th most diverse university in the United States.
The university is also a national leader in sustainability, and as of 2019, 100% of the university's power comes from renewable sources. In 2018, UC Merced was named the greenest university in the country by the Sierra Club.
Quick Facts
Enrollment: 9018
Acceptance Rate: 84.80%
Type: Public, 4-year or above
Main Website: https://ucmerced.edu/
Financial Aid: https://financialaid.ucmerced.edu/
Annual Costs
Total Cost In-State On-Campus: $36700
Total Cost Out-State On-Campus: $66454