Student Life

UC Merced’s national reputation for sustainability continues to grow, with the Sierra Club naming the university No. 5 on its 2020 “Cool Schools” list and The Princeton Review placing it on its Green College Honor Roll.

The coronavirus has changed the way people work and live: One population feeling it most acutely is students.

This semester undoubtedly will be different for both new and returning UC Merced students. While courses mainly will be remote this fall, UC Merced remains committed to student success no matter the learning modality.

UC Merced is one of the country’s best four-year universities for quality, affordability and alumni outcomes, according to Money’s 2020 Best Colleges rankings by value.

In its first year on the annual list, UC Merced is No. 76 out of 739 schools that met Money’s criteria for evaluation.

Bobcats go back to school today and while most are not physically returning to campus, there are still plenty of festivities planned to kick off the semester.

UC Merced’s support for students who are building leadership skills, engaging in community outreach or searching for careers is going strong during the campus’s move to remote instruction, with the Office of Leadership, Service and Career providing new webinars, online workshops and virtual events.

The Bobcat culture of giving will be celebrated with cookies and fun on Thursday, as the campus marks UC Merced Philanthropy Day hosted by the Student Alumni Association.

UC Merced students will be able to earn money for college by helping Merced County kids become strong readers thanks to a pilot grant from the AmeriCorps Service Fellowship program.

The grant, announced Monday and administered through California Volunteers, will give $3,000 to each of up to 24 students who provide 900 hours of literacy coaching as part of their 2020-21 academic curriculum.

Harrison Duran has always wanted to discover ‘the land before time,’ and his desire to dig up dinosaur bones led him to the Badlands of North Dakota, where Alice the Triceratops was waiting for him.

It started with a simple off-hand comment, one that would likely be met with a chuckle at any other institution. At UC Merced, it became a ripple that has changed the academic and social strata of an entire school.

Undergraduates Victoria Arias and Cydney Caradonna entered UC Merced through different doors.

Arias was a freshman impressed with the campus and community. Caradonna was a transfer student and athlete sold on UC Merced’s championship women’s basketball team.