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...

Three Students Awarded Global Food Initiative Fellowships

The University of California has selected its second class of Global Food Initiative (GFI) fellows — including three students from UC Merced — who will work on projects ranging from food access to...

Arts Meets Social Justice With Recycled Figures

Students in Richard Gomez’s Arts 171: Art for Social Change course have had a special role in the Yosemite Facelift, an annual project that focuses volunteers on cleaning up Yosemite National Park in...

Engineering Student Making an Impact on Agriculture

Rebecca Quinte is a mechanical engineer who is learning to apply her skills and knowledge in unexpected ways, and that could end up benefitting farmers in the Central Valley and beyond. The UC Merced...

White House Recognizes UC Merced for Supporting Latino Community

UC Merced is one of nearly 150 public and private sector organizations who answered the White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for Hispanics’ 25th anniversary call to action. The campus has...

Anniversary Exhibit Documents History of Campus

A group of UC Merced history students put their knowledge and skills to good use this summer on a project that hits, quite literally, close to home. The students — Josh Melendez, Adam Brown, Ramon...

Take a Stand Against Domestic Violence

To commemorate Domestic Violence Awareness Month, UC Merced’s Campus, Advocacy, Resources and Education (CARE) Office is hosting events throughout October. According to a survey by the National...

Busy Weekend Planned for Prospective Students, Families, Alumni

Each fall, UC Merced opens its doors to the community to show what takes place on a research university campus. During Preview Day — scheduled for Oct. 17 — UC Merced welcomes hundreds of high school...

GEM Consortium Brings New Fellowship Opportunities

New fellowship opportunities are available to undergraduate and graduate students from underrepresented groups in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) fields at UC Merced, thanks to the...

Despite Constraints, UC Merced Enrollment Continues to Grow

Enrollment at the University of California, Merced, this fall has climbed to another all-time high of 6,685 students — an increase of 6.7 percent over Fall 2014, according to headcount figures...