First. Further. Forward

Incoming first-year student Hayden Elliott will hit the UC Merced campus this fall with quite a bit of college already under his belt.

A 2023 graduate of Turlock High School, Elliott has earned associate's degrees from attending both Modesto Junior College and Merced College in their dual enrollment programs.

Merced, California, and Kyoto, Japan, are nearly 5,500 miles apart, but their research universities' shared goals to improve society is bringing them together. A new agreement between institutions of higher education in both cities will foster collaboration among researchers and an exchange of students.

When Associate Director for Educational Equity and Access for the Calvin E. Bright Success Center Alejandro Delgadillo announced his plans for retirement earlier this year in a social media post, there was an outpouring of felicitations and appreciation from current and former students he has mentored.

• “Your dedication and sincerity are what will keep UC Merced a hub for first-generation students seeking higher education. We are forever indebted to you!”

UC Merced is highlighting incoming students for fall 2023 — a dynamic, diverse and accomplished cohort of new Bobcats.

Delia Rodriguez poured her heart into college prep — applying to almost 20 universities. When it came time to make her choice, opportunities in health science pointed her to a UC close to home.

"I think what led me to UC Merced was the Health Scholars Program that I got into," said Rodriguez.

UC Merced is highlighting incoming students for fall 2023 — a dynamic, diverse and accomplished cohort of new Bobcats.

With a population of about 8,700 people, the Tulare County town of Orosi is known as a tight-knit community. It's no surprise that residents see familiar faces daily and are on a first-name basis.

The Gateway Scholarship Program, UC Merced's longstanding student-support initiative focused on empowering young people from the San Joaquin Valley, has received a significant infusion of funding, ensuring the scholarship's ability to help Merced-area students for generations to come.

The Jack Kent Cooke Foundation has established a new scholarship endowment to ensure that many of UC Merced's underrepresented students, particularly those from diverse socio-economic backgrounds, have access to much-needed financial resources to support them during their higher-education journeys.

New students or those who have not yet chosen their majors will have an array of options before them.

Five new majors and several new emphases, ranging across all three schools, are all coming online in 2024 and are recruiting students now.

New bachelor’s of science degrees:

• chemical engineering
• data science and computing
• public health

New bachelor’s of arts degrees:

• data science and analytics
• environmental humanities

New emphases:

In the mechanical engineering major:

UC Merced undergraduates who dream of expanding their educational horizons by immersing themselves in foreign cultures and far-away countries now have access to vital financial aid for that goal, thanks to a generous gift from longtime Board of Trustees member, donor, and student support advocate Denise Watkins.

Professor Ahmed Sabbir Arif has received a CAREER award for his research into non-acoustic, image-based speech input on mobile devices.

He is the 35th researcher from UC Merced to earn a CAREER award from the National Science Foundation (NSF).