For the second year, UC Merced has partnered with the Campos Foundation to host the Campos ENgage Engineering Summer Bridge Academy, a weeklong summer program aimed at supporting underrepresented minority and female students interested in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM). 

This is part of a series of profiles of new UC Merced Bobcats enrolled for the fall 2026 semester.

Driven by a passion for animal care, incoming biological sciences major student Esperanza Garcia is already well on her way toward a future in veterinary medicine.

In “The Miracle of Merced,” author James H. Erickson chronicles the volunteers, educators and community leaders who helped transform a patch of land into the nation’s first research university of the 21st century.

The book tells the story of the people who refused to let go of the vision: bringing a world-renowned University of California campus to Merced.

UC Merced doctoral students Brianna Aguilar-Solis, Vanessa Sanchez and Nora Shamoon have been awarded the 2026-2027 UC President's Pre-Professoriate Fellowship, a University of California Hispanic Serving Institutions Doctoral Diversity Initiative award that supports promising scholars from California Hispanic-serving institutions as they pursue careers in academia.  

Each will receive a full year of support, allowing them to focus full-time on their research.

When first-generation mechanical engineering student David Miguel arrived at UC Merced, he had no research experience, but a passion for engineering and a desire to learn.

A former foster care youth from Los Angeles, Miguel had limited resources to pursue science, technology, engineering and math (STEM). His interest in mechanical engineering was sparked at a community fair, an experience that led him to start a general engineering club at his high school.

David Zwart hadn't even finished introducing himself as the keynote speaker for "The Dutch -American Story in the San Joaquin Valley" at the UC Merced event on July 14 before he'd found a connection in the audience. 

"Any connections?" the historian and associate professor at Grand Valley State University asked, rattling off the years he'd spent teaching in nearby Visalia in the late 1990s. An audience member called out a name he recognized. It's a parlor game Zwart calls "Dutch Bingo," a version of six degrees of separation that, among Dutch Americans, usually takes one or two. 

UC Merced continues to rank among the nation’s top universities, earning a rating of 4.5 stars out of 5 in Money’s 2026 “Best Colleges in America” report. 

The annual evaluation scores more than 700 institutions nationwide using a range of factors, including graduation rates, cost of attendance, instructor access and economic mobility. 

UC Merced will celebrate the Class of 2026 with three inspiring alumni returning to campus as keynote speakers for commencement ceremonies May 15-17.

Emily Reed, ’07, ’13, a tenured biology professor at Merced College, will share her story with more than 100 master’s and doctoral degree candidates and their guests at the Graduate Division ceremony on May 15.

A throng of people came to UC Merced on a crisp, blue-sky Saturday for Bobcat Day. More than 7,000 were registered to attend the April 18 event for admitted and prospective first-year and transfer students, along with their families.

Community voices, student research and cross-sector partnerships took center stage at the UC Merced’s Public Health Symposium, where speakers emphasized equity, access and connection as urgent priorities in the Central Valley and beyond.