UC Merced earned 42 ranking badges in the 2027 College Factual rankings: 1 in the top 1%, 10 in the top 5%, 14 in the top 10% and 17 in the top 15% of the schools in each ranking. Its highest placement is #1 of 258 in Most Focused for Child Development & Psychology, a top 1% award.
Key facts
Badges earned: 42 (2027 edition)
In the top 1% / top 5%: 1 / 10
Highest placement: #1 of 258, a top 1% award
Fields of study with a badge: 9
Placements this edition: 188
Badge cutoff: a top 15% placement in a ranking
Source: IPEDS 2025; College Scorecard July 2026; College Factual rankings 2027. Data as of: July 2026.
How Many Ranking Badges Has University of California-Merced Earned?
University of California-Merced holds 42 ranking badges across 9 fields of study, 11 of them in the top 5% or better; each badge is an award for placing in the top 15% of a ranking. It has no placements this edition in College Factual’s online-program rankings. Our rankings are refreshed through the year as new data arrives. This page reflects the 2027 edition. A check mark sits in the highest award tier the school reached. Learn more about our data sources and methodologies. Want to feature these awards on your college’s site? Administrators can contact us.
Count by Award Level
Award Level
Badges
Top 1%
1
Top 5%
10
Top 10%
14
Top 15%
17
Total
42
What Is University of California-Merced Known For?
University of California-Merced is best known for Biological & Biomedical Sciences: 8 of its 41 traditional-student awards are in that field. Its top-ranked majors include Child Development & Psychology, Computer Engineering and Cognitive Science.
How Does University of California-Merced Rank in Athletics?
University of California-Merced earned no athletics badge in the 2027 edition; its highest placement in College Factual’s sports rankings is #26 of 155 in Volleyball (top 17%).
How Does University of California-Merced Rank for Veterans?
In College Factual’s 2027 veterans rankings, University of California-Merced earned 1 badge; its highest placement is #505 of 4,939 in Best for Veterans.
The rankings above are grounded in U.S. Department of Education data, 2027 edition. University of California-Merced appears in 188 of the College Factual rankings covered on this page.
The Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), a branch of the U.S. Department of Education (DOE), serves as the core of our data about colleges.
Some other college data, including much of the earnings data, comes from the U.S. Department of Education’s (College Scorecard).
by our College Data Analytics Team