Nearly 33,000 prospective first-year and transfer students applied to UC Merced for the fall 2024 semester — a 12% increase from last year’s applicant pool.
“It is clear that the word has spread far and wide about UC Merced’s culture of innovation, our world-changing teaching and research, and all the exciting opportunities we offer students and families,” said Chancellor Juan Sánchez Muñoz.
The American Council on Education (ACE) and Fidelity Investments this week presented the 2024 Award for Institutional Transformation to UC Merced and to Florida Atlantic University.
The award, established in 2014, recognizes institutions that respond to higher education challenges in innovative and creative ways and achieve dramatic changes in a relatively brief period. It was presented along with a $10,000 prize to each institution at the ACE Presidents and Chancellors Summit in Washington, D.C.
Cognitive Science Professor Zenaida Aguirre-Muñoz has a passion for biliteracy that has driven her to improve the quality of learning in both English and Spanish at schools in Texas and Central California.
A $3 million National Professional Development grant from the U.S. Department of Education funded her work in the small Merced County town of Livingston. This summer, she worked with Livingston Unified School District teachers interested in developing their biliteracy knowledge and teaching practices.
UC Merced has received the 2023 Higher Education Excellence in Diversity (HEED) Award from INSIGHT Into Diversity magazine, the oldest and largest diversity-focused publication in higher education.
As a recipient of the annual HEED Award - a national honor recognizing U.S. colleges and universities that demonstrate outstanding commitment to diversity and inclusion - UC Merced will be featured, along with 107 other recipients, in the November/December 2023 issue of the magazine.
Ahead of Native American Heritage Month, the Toloma 5K will return to UC Merced on Saturday, Oct. 28 from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. The event has been held since 2021, and not only raises money for Native American activities on campus but preserves tradition while acknowledging the campus's location on Yokut and Miwuk land.
UC Merced has been designated a Fulbright Hispanic-Serving Institution (HSI) Leader for 2023 by the U.S. Department of State's Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA). Each year, the ECA recognizes the strong engagement of select HSIs within the Fulbright Program, the U.S. government's flagship international academic exchange program.
UC Merced hosted the annual Black Excellence Symposium on Nov. 3. Stemming from the Valuing Black Lives Initiative , the symposium has aimed to advance racial justice and Black liberation at UC Merced since 2021.
UC Merced had several subjects in social science, natural science and engineering placed in the top tiers of the annual Global Ranking of Academic Subjects (GRAS) released by ShanghaiRanking Consulting. First published in 2017, the GRAS examines data from over 1,900 universities across 104 countries and regions.
Veterans with aspirations to pursue higher education will have access to new resources and support through the Veterans Upward Bound Program at UC Merced.
This year, the university was selected as one of the recipients of the Department of Education (DOE) grant, which helps to provide first-generation and low-income veterans with assistance from the application process through commencement. The DOE website states, "the program's primary goal is to increase the rate at which participants enroll in and complete postsecondary education programs."
It's been more than a year since UC Merced joined the 1300 Campaign partnership, continuing its efforts to help students of color attend and succeed at four-year universities. Now it's time for a review and a look ahead.
