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August 26, 2026

New students walking across Scholars Bridge
UC Merced is welcoming the largest class in university history this fall, as record numbers of first-year and transfer students propel total enrollment to an all-time high of 9,647 students.  The university’s enrollment grew by 704 students, a nearly 8% increase from...
UC Merced students and Rufus mascot at Beginnings sculpture during Scholars Bridge Crossing
A smiling throng of new faces took part Tuesday in one of UC Merced’s oldest traditions, the Scholars Bridge Crossing. Chancellor Juan Sánchez Muñoz and other campus leaders led the march...
Graphic with five headshots of new faculty endowed chairs
Five faculty members in the UC Merced School of Social Sciences, Humanities and Arts have been appointed to endowed chairs, recognizing their scholarship and contributions to research that serve...
Students cheering from the stands
Fueled by a $38 million gift from philanthropist MacKenzie Scott — her second to UC Merced and the largest single philanthropic gift in the university's history — and the...
Mural artist William Paulson addresses event attendees behind a podium
"These works are a tribute to nature, to culture, and to time itself."  That's how UC Merced Chancellor Juan Sánchez Muñoz described "Four Seasons of Yosemite" during...
UC Merced students and parents using carts to move stuff into residence halls
The growing energy across campus is palpable as UC Merced prepares for its 21st academic year. Fall semester instruction begins Wednesday, Aug. 26, furthering the mission of one of the nation’s...
Postdoctoral researcher Dilawer Ali is seen sitting next to lab equipment at UC Merced.
Imagine driving down a road in an electric vehicle with no charging stations in sight. Do you want only an estimate of how many more miles your car can go before the battery dies? As...
UC Merced farmland
UC Merced researchers are launching a project that could change how Central Valley growers harness the sun’s energy, using a family of light-active molecules developed at the university to...
Professor Patti LiWang and student Adesh Johal, holding a syringe and a test tube, stand in a lab at UC Merced.
A few months ago, Adesh Johal wanted to join Patti LiWang's research group. "At the time, he was loaded up on credits so it didn't seem like he would have enough time to get...
Closeup of stone marker for townsite of Gold Rush town Agua Fria
Digging for stories in a Gold Rush town that vanished in flames 170 years ago. Pinging brainwaves for reactions from sentences that slide between Spanish and English. Fortifying students’...

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