MERCED - For the second consecutive year, student enrollment at
the University of California, Merced, has risen 45 percent compared
with the prior year, university officials announced today, Oct. 1.
There are 2,718 students enrolled this fall, up from 1,871 in
the fall of 2007 and 875 in the university’s inaugural year of
2005. The current total includes 925 new freshmen, 139 new transfer
students and 66 new graduate students. Last year’s totals were 669
new freshmen, 116 new transfers and 52 new graduate students. Based
upon admissions numbers and traditional yield rates, UC Merced
officials expected 2,625 students on campus this semester.
“We are extremely gratified by the strong demand from students
seeking access to the newest UC campus,” said UC Merced Chancellor
Steve Kang. “Prospective and current students are more energized
than ever by the prospect of a UC-quality education in an
innovative environment they are helping to build. This is an
experience that simply isn’t available anywhere else in the country.”
The uniqueness of that experience is something student body
president Yaasha Saaba knows from experience.
“You’re actually getting your money’s worth at UC Merced,” Saaba
said. “What other university allows you to enter as a freshman,
create your own club, conduct research with a world-renowned
professor and create policies that will affect future generations
of students?
“That has been my personal experience with UC Merced - I’ve
started clubs, been president of clubs, worked in a stem-cell
research lab, interned in the Office of Student Life, and now lead
student government. I wouldn’t have accomplished half of that on
another campus.”
UC Merced was established in the Valley partly to address
chronically low levels of educational attainment in the region and
throughout California’s greater Central Valley. Since the fall of
2004, the year before UC Merced opened, applications to UC campuses
from Central Valley residents have increased 41 percent and
admissions have risen 45 percent.
UC Merced’s largest-ever incoming class of freshmen comes from
all over the state and is reflective of California’s highly diverse
population. Geographic and ethnic backgrounds are as follows:
Freshman enrollment by region as % of freshman total
2008-2009 2007-2008 2006-2007
San Joaquin Valley 29.5 30.1 35.0
Bay Area 30.3 26.5 28.5
Los Angeles 19.0 15.0 14.6
Freshman enrollment by ethnicity as % of freshman total
Asian 32.5 31.7 34.6
Hispanic 32.1 28.0 25.5
Caucasian 22.5 25.1 25.7
Black 7.2 5.9 5.7
Other/Unknown 3.8 5.8 6.2
Non-resident alien 1.4 2.9 1.6
American Indian 0.4 0.7 0.7
University of California statistics show UC Merced to be the
most diverse in the 10-campus UC system. It also has the highest
percentage of first-generation college students, with 50.5 percent
reporting that neither of their parents have a four-year degree.
“Expanding access to the UC system is critical to the long-term
prosperity of the region and the state,” said Kevin Browne,
assistant vice chancellor for enrollment management. “UC Merced is
opening the door to many highly qualified students who might have
considered a UC education unattainable in the past.”
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Media Contact:
Tonya Luiz
Office of Communications
209-228-4408
209-658-9101 (cell)
