Back to Colleges

University of California, Merced

Basic Information

Type Public
Geographical Reach Regional
Location Merced, CA
Population 300,000
Map of the United States

Demographics

Total Undergraduates 8,372
Men / Women 55% / 45%
Hispanic 48%
Asian 24%
White 15%
Black 4%
Mixed 4%
Native American 1%
International 1%
From State 98%
From Region 0%

Academics

Undergraduate Degrees
Humanities & Social Sciences 36%
Life & Natural Sciences 18%
Business & Economics 12%
Engineering 12%
Computer Science 11%
Health Sciences 6%
Physical Sciences & Math 4%
Arts 1%

Financial

In-State Tuition & Fees $14,934
Out-of-State Tuition & Fees $52,536
Est. In-State Cost $19,319
Est. Out-of-State Cost $67,961
10-Year ROI $214,000
ROI Percentile 86th

Retention & Graduation

Full-Time Retention 82%
4-Year Graduation Rate 51%
6-Year Graduation Rate 69%
Transfer-Out Rate 11%

Weather

Comfortable Days 115 (84%)
Sunshine Hours 3,604 (99% ☀️)
Days Without Precipitation 307 (94% 🏖️)

Admissions

Uses Common App No
Acceptance Rate 97%
Yield (Unbound) 7%
Regular Decision Jan 1

Research

Research Level R1
Expenditure
Humanities & Social Sciences $13M #113
Engineering, Computing & Math $24M #151
Life & Natural Sciences $29M #174
Graduate Degrees
Engineering, Computing & Math 30 #135
Life & Natural Sciences 52 #287
Humanities & Social Sciences 29 #318

Honors College

Standardized Tests

Test Scores

Test Policy blind

Earnings by Major Category

Each major category's degree-weighted estimated median 5-year earnings at this college, expressed as a z-score against the national degree-weighted distribution for that category. 0 is the national average. The shaded band between +1.28 and −1.28 marks the central 80% of the national distribution (10th–90th percentile).

Schools & Majors

Trends Degrees Male/Female Intl Earnings ROI Employment
School of Engineering 384 81% / 19% 1% $93,623 94%
Bioengineering 30 53% / 47% 0% $89,244 90 92%
Civil Engineering 3 33% / 67% 0% $88,959 90
Environmental Engineering 18 50% / 50% 0% $83,194 86 89%
Materials Science and Engineering 10 50% / 50% 0% $89,851 91
Mechanical Engineering 139 88% / 12% 1% $85,156 88 96%
Computer Science and Engineering 184 85% / 15% 1% $102,036 96 94%
Trends Degrees Male/Female Intl Earnings ROI Employment
School of Natural Sciences 359 40% / 60% 3% $68,098 95%
Applied Mathematical Sciences 25 +3 76% / 24% 0% $79,461 83 100%
Chemistry 18 +1 67% / 33% 0% $64,086 59 100%
Earth Systems Science 16 50% / 50% 0% $63,454 57
Physics 14 +1 79% / 21% 7% $73,723 76
Biological Sciences 286 +1 33% / 67% 3% $67,342 65 94%
Trends Degrees Male/Female Intl Earnings ROI Employment
School of Social Sciences, Humanities and Arts 889 36% / 64% 1% $58,308 93%
Public Health 93 +5 25% / 75% 1% $55,265 34 100%
Business Administration and Management $72,262 74
Economics 16 +1 69% / 31% 0% $71,331 73 90%
Management 177 54% / 46% 2% $71,204 73
Anthropology 12 25% / 75% 0% $50,370 21 90%
Cognitive Science 38 +5 39% / 61% 0% $57,358 40 89%
Comparative Literature $53,273 28
Ethnic Studies 8 38% / 62% 0% $53,591 29
History 25 72% / 28% 0% $43,261 8 86%
Literatures in English 29 41% / 59% 0% $57,451 41 96%
Philosophy 4 +1 100% / 0% 0% $54,835 33
Political Science 54 +5 37% / 63% 0% $59,111 46 87%
Psychological Sciences 326 +38 26% / 74% 1% $56,194 37
Sociology 79 +6 22% / 78% 3% $49,395 18 94%
Spanish 13 38% / 62% 0% $53,135 28
Global Arts Studies 15 33% / 67% 0% $44,572 9

Rankings