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University of California - Merced Data & Information Overview

109 awards Ranking Badges
Great Price Value for Your Money
87% Acceptance Rate
If you want to know more about University of California - Merced, such as what majors does it offer, how diverse it is, how well it ranks, and more, this is your one-stop resource.
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How Well Is University of California - Merced Ranked?

#325 Best Colleges in Nation
#55 Best Colleges in CA
General Biology Highest Ranked Major
Quality Badge

2024 Rankings

In its yearly rankings, College Factual analyzes over 2,000 colleges and universities to determine which ones are the best in a variety of categories, such as overall value, quality, diversity, which schools are the best for each major, and much more.

University of California - Merced was awarded 109 badges in the 2024 rankings. The highest ranked major at the school is general biology.

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Overall Quality

UC Merced landed the #325 spot in College Factual's 2024 ranking of best overall colleges in the United States. The higher ed experts analyzed 2,217 colleges and universities across the nation to determine this ranking. This puts it in the top 15% of all schools in the nation. This is an improvement over the previous year, when UC Merced held the #738 spot on the Best Overall Colleges list.

UC Merced is also ranked #55 out of 168 schools in California.

See all of the rankings for University of California - Merced.

Is It Hard to Get Into UC Merced?

87% Acceptance Rate
54% Of Accepted Are Women

Acceptance Rate

The acceptance rate at University of California - Merced is 87%, which is higher than many other schools to which you may be applying. But don't think getting into UC Merced is a sure thing. The admissions staff is still going to review your application to see if you are a good fit for the school.

Learn more about University of California - Merced admissions.

University of California - Merced Faculty

19 to 1 Student to Faculty
93% Full Time Teachers

Student to Faculty Ratio

At University of California - Merced, the student to faculty ratio is 19 to 1. Compared to the national average of 15 to 1, this is somewhat high. This could mean that class sizes may be larger than they are at other colleges or universities or that professors may be required to teach more classes.

Percent of Full-Time Faculty

When estimating how much access students will have to their teachers, some people like to look at what percentage of faculty members are full time. This is because part-time teachers may not have as much time to spend on campus as their full-time counterparts.

The full-time faculty percentage at University of California - Merced is 93%. This is higher than the national average of 47%.

Full-Time Faculty Percent  93 out of 100
0
100

Retention and Graduation Rates at University of California - Merced

79% Freshmen Retention
45% On-Time Graduation Rate

Freshmen Retention Rate

University of California - Merced has a freshmen retention rate of 79%. That's a good sign that full-time students like the school and their professors enough to want to stick around for another year. It's also a sign that the admissions team did a good job in choosing applicants who were a good fit for the school.

Freshmen Retention Rate  79 out of 100
0
100

Graduation Rate

The on-time graduation rate for someone pursuing a bachelor's degree is typically four years. This rate at UC Merced for first-time, full-time students is 45%, which is better than the national average of 33.3%.

On-Time Graduation Rate  45 out of 100
0
100

Find out more about the retention and graduation rates at University of California - Merced.

University of California - Merced Undergraduate Student Diversity

8,194 Full-Time Undergraduates
84.0% Racial-Ethnic Minorities*
52.9% Percent Women

During the 2017-2018 academic year, there were 8,276 undergraduates at UC Merced with 8,194 being full-time and 82 being part-time.

How Much Does University of California - Merced Cost?

$13,691 Net Price
19% Take Out Loans
$17,540 Total Student Loans
The overall average net price of UC Merced is $13,691. The affordability of the school largely depends on your financial need since net price varies by income group. See the table below for the net price for different income groups.

Net Price by Income Group for UC Merced

$0-30 K $30K-48K $48-75 $75-110K $110K +
$10,363 $11,400 $14,261 $19,795 $30,123

The net price is calculated by adding tuition, room, board and other costs and subtracting financial aid.Note that the net price is typically less than the published for a school. For more information on the sticker price of UC Merced, see our tuition and fees and room and board pages.

Student Loan Debt

While almost two-thirds of students nationwide take out loans to pay for college, the percentage may be quite different for the school you plan on attending. At UC Merced, approximately 19% of students took out student loans averaging $4,385 a year. That adds up to $17,540 over four years for those students.

The student loan default rate at UC Merced is 2.8%. This is significantly lower than the national default rate of 10.1%, which is a good sign that you'll be able to pay back your student loans.

Get more details about paying for University of California - Merced.

How Much Money Do UC Merced Graduates Make?

$61,148 Avg Salary of Grads
High Earnings Boost
The pay for some majors is higher than others, but on average, students who graduate with a bachelor's degree from UC Merced make about $61,148 a year during their first few years of employment after graduation. That's great news for UC Merced students since it is 44% more than the average college graduate's salary of $42,485 per year.

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See which majors at University of California - Merced make the most money.

Location of University of California - Merced

California State
8,194 Full-Time Undergraduates
Rural Campus Setting
Located in Merced, California, University of California - Merced is a public institution. The rural area surrounding UC Merced is great for students who love a peaceful atmosphere.

Get more details about the location of University of California - Merced.

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Contact details for UC Merced are given below.

Contact Details
Address: 5200 North Lake Road, Merced, CA 95343-5603
Phone: 209-228-4400
Website: ucmerced.edu/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ucmerced
Twitter: https://twitter.com/ucmerced

University of California - Merced Majors

33 Majors With Completions
2,339 Undergraduate Degrees
147 Graduate Degrees
During the most recent year for which we have data, students from 33 majors graduated from University of California - Merced. Of these students, 2,339 received undergraduate degrees and 147 graduated with a master's or doctor's degree. The following table lists the most popular undergraduate majors along with the average salary graduates from those majors make.

Most Popular Majors Bachelor’s Degrees Average Salary of Graduates
General Biology 360 $29,685
General Psychology 310 $23,722
Other Physical Science 310 NA
Business Administration & Management 208 $41,245
Computer Engineering 198 $54,675
Public Health 162 $32,099
Mechanical Engineering 155 $55,936
Political Science & Government 92 $28,521
Sociology 88 $24,524
General Social Sciences 88 NA

Learn more about the majors offered at University of California - Merced along with which ones have the highest average starting salaries.

Online Learning at UC Merced

17% Take At Least One Class Online
0% Take All Classes Online

Online courses area a great option for busy, working students as well as for those who have scheduling conflicts and want to study on their own time. As time goes by, expect to see more and more online learning options become available.

In 2020-2021, 1,528 students took at least one online class at University of California - Merced. This is a decrease from the 8,763 students who took online classes the previous year.

Year Took at Least One Online Class Took All Classes Online
2020-2021 1,528 12
2019-2020 8,763 8,077
2018-2019 55 0
2017-2018 178 0
2016-2017 178 0

Learn more about online learning at University of California - Merced.

Notes and References

Footnotes

*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.

References

More about our data sources and methodologies.

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