Undergraduate Students

First-generation Students Shine at UC Merced. This Week Celebrates Them

November 3, 2025

UC Merced Professor Rose Scott, student Narciso Martinez Solorio

More than six in 10 UC Merced undergraduates are the first in their families to attend a university. The national average for four-year universities is about two in 10. Opening doors to opportunity for first-generation students is infused into UC Merced’s DNA. Young people who had little...

Bobcats Help Beautify Community

Alumni Relations and the Community Engagement Center (CEC) hosted Bobcats Give Back: Day of Service at Lake Yosemite as part of Student Philanthropy Month. Nearly 70 students, alumni and staff...

Three students study in Half Dome student housing.

Grant Saves Students Thousands of Dollars in Textbook Costs

Higher education and high textbook prices usually go hand in hand, but hundreds of UC Merced students have been able to keep more money in their pockets thanks to a grant program. The Zero-Cost...

Research Week Offers Both Virtual and In-person Events This Year

Research Week, the annual showcase of UC Merced’s important explorations into some of the world's most pressing challenges, kicks off Monday with the Sierra Nevada Research Institute’...

Remembering the Kindness and Caring of Jan Goggans

UC Merced founding faculty member and literature Professor Jan Goggans was admired for her kindness and for putting others first. She placed students at the center of their learning, calling out...

Celebrate National Engineers Week with the Nine UC Engineering Schools and Programs

Founded by the National Society of Professional Engineers (NSPE) in 1951, National Engineers Week is dedicated to ensuring a diverse and well-educated future engineering workforce by increasing...

Love is in the Air and in the National Park this Spring

Preparations are underway for this year's production of Shakespeare in Yosemite, and the show promises to be groovy. Working with students, Professors Katie Brokaw and Paul Prescott are...

NSF Award Goes to Research into Brain Formation and What Leads to Developmental Disorders

Professor Xuecai Ge, a developmental neurobiologist, has received a CAREER award for research to gain insight into the molecular mechanisms that direct brain formation, and how errors in cell...

Give to UC Merced 2021 Raises Nearly $230,000 in Campus Support

In December, the Give to UC Merced 2021 fundraising initiative surpassed the targeted goal of $100,000, garnering a total of $227,569 to support programs and people throughout the university. Give...

UC Merced students will get the opportunity to serve their community while receiving financial support for college through the new program #CaliforniaForAll College Fellowship.

Campus Receives Grant to Provide Financial Support to Students in Service to Communities

As part of the 2021-22 Governor’s California Comeback Plan, UC Merced students will get the opportunity to serve their community while receiving financial support for college through the new...