Campus

UC Merced, a beacon of academic achievement in the San Joaquin Valley, is also a powerful driver of economic growth and prosperity in the region it was created to serve. 

UC Merced has once again been recognized as a national leader in community-engaged scholarship. The 2026 Carnegie Elective Classification for Community Engagement affirms the university’s deep and expanding commitment to serving the public.

Physics Ph.D. candidate Arabi Seshappan added two prestigious fellowships to her curriculum vitae: the Chateaubriand Fellowship in Science, Technology, Engineering Mathematics & Biology-Health and the UC President's Pre-Professoriate Fellowship.

The University of California, Merced today announced the largest philanthropic gift in its history, an extraordinary new commitment from philanthropist MacKenzie Scott. This transformational investment, Ms. Scott’s second major gift to UC Merced, underscores growing national recognition of UC Merced’s rapid ascent as one of the nation’s most innovative public research universities and a leader in access and opportunity, student success, and social mobility.

UC Merced was recognized again as a national leader in sustainability, earning a perfect Green Rating score and ranking No. 7 in the nation on The Princeton Review’s 2025 list of Top 50 Green Colleges.

The ranking highlights universities that set the standard for environmental stewardship through sustainable operations, curriculum and community engagement. UC Merced’s perfect score underscores its deep commitment to sustainability – from its zero net energy goals to its emphasis on preparing students to lead in a greener global economy.

The beat of drums and the scent of cedar filled UC Merced’s Conference Center as acclaimed chef, author and activist Sean Sherman shared stories of tradition, resilience and culinary innovation during “Flavors & Stories: A Fireside Chat with the Sioux Chef.”

The New York Times bestselling author and founder of North American Traditional Indigenous Food Systems (NATIFS) engaged the audience in a conversation about his journey to revitalize Indigenous cuisine and reconnect communities with the ingredients and methods that sustained their ancestors for generations.

Following recognition as a Top 25 university by U.S. News & World Report, UC Merced has once again earned national acclaim, this time from the Wall Street Journal. In its 2026 report of the Best Colleges in the U.S., the highly respected media outlet has named UC Merced the 14th best college in the nation.

The Health Sciences Research Institute (HSRI) at UC Merced is preparing to launch its long-envisioned distinguished speaker series on Oct. 6 with a visit from David Kaplan, a Tufts University professor internationally recognized for his groundbreaking work in bioengineering.

UC Merced’s upward trajectory shows no signs of slowing as the university has cracked the Top 25 of U.S. News & World Report’s best public schools in the nation.

The annual survey, which evaluates nearly 1,700 national public and private colleges and universities, also placed UC Merced No. 57 overall among all universities and No. 3 in the nation for social mobility.

Gary Stewart, who has won 385 career games across all levels of NCAA basketball, has been named the University of California, Merced head men's basketball coach, Executive Director of Recreation & Athletics David Dunham announced today.