Per the college's Common Data Set, section C7. The Importance the Institution Places on Each of the Following Academic and Nonacademic Factors in Their First-Time, First-Year, Degree-Seeking Admission Decisions.
Admissions Advantages
Yield Protection
Application Rounds
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Application Fee
Accepted Platforms
Required Essays
Interview
Sources
Nationally Ranked Programs
Programs by Median Earnings (1 Year After Graduation)
Martin Hagger, Distinguished Professor of Health Psychology; Graduate Group Chairh-index 100
Determinants of health behavior; theories of social cognition and motivation; theory integration; behavior change; meta-analysis Bio: Martin Hagger is Distinguished Professor of Health Psychology in the Department of Psychological Sciences at UC Merced. He is
Notable: “Ego depletion and the strength model of self-control: A meta-analysis.” (2010) · 2,264 citations
Linda Cameron, Professor of Health Psychologyh-index 55
Deborah Wiebe, Professor of Health Psychology; Director Health Sciences Research Instituteh-index 46
Notable: “Children's Appraisals of Maternal Involvement in Coping With Diabetes: Enhancing Our Understanding of Adherence, Metabolic Control, and Quality of Life Across Adolescence” (2005) · 273 citations
Jan Wallander, Distinguished Professor Emeritush-index 45
Professor Wallander is retired and no longer accept new graduate students to work with him. Health psychology focused on children and adolescents. Quality of life and wellbeing in childhood, especially in vulnerable groups due to chronic illness, poverty, and
Notable: “Effects of Pediatric Chronic Physical Disorders on Child and Family Adjustment” (1998) · 684 citations
Mechatronics Control systems - Unmanned aircraft systems - Cyber-physical systems - Applied fractional calculus Education: - Ph.D., 1998 — Nanyang Technological University, Singapore - M.S., 1989 — Beijing Institute of Technology, China - B.S., 1985 — Unive
Notable: “A new collection of real world applications of fractional calculus in science and engineering” (2018) · 1,733 citations
Reza Ehsani, Professorh-index 42
Engineering systems for agriculture - Automation and intelligent machines for production and postharvest of agricultural crops - Precision agriculture technology - Sensors for biotic and abiotic plant stress detection - Mechanical harvesting machines and ro
Notable: “A review of advanced techniques for detecting plant diseases” (2010) · 1,335 citations
Po-Ya Abel Chuang, Professor and Vice Chair (ME)h-index 30
PEM fuel cell - Heat exchanger - Thermal management - Two-phase heat transfer and fluid flow - Loop heat pipe - Porous material - Carbon fiber Education: - Executive MBA, 2009 — Rochester Institute of Technology - Ph.D., 2003 — Pennsylvania State University
Notable: “New insights into evaluating catalyst activity and stability for oxygen evolution reactions in alkaline media” (2017) · 297 citations
Min Hwan Lee, Associate Professorh-index 29
Electrochemical energy conversion and storage (e.g., fuel cells and batteries) - Next generation non-volatile memory (e.g., resistive switching memory) - Electrochemical nano-patterning - Nanoscale electrochemistry - Nanoscale material interface and surface
Notable: “Three-Dimensional Nanostructured Bilayer Solid Oxide Fuel Cell with 1.3 W/cm2 at 450 °C” (2013) · 203 citations
Ming-Hsuan Yang, Professor and Graduate Chair, EECSh-index 144
Computer vision - Pattern recognition - Machine learning Education: - Ph.D., 2000 — University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign - M.S., 1994 — University of Texas at Austin M.S., 1992 — University of Southern California - B.S., 1991 — National Tsing-Hua Univ
Notable: “Robust Recovery of Subspace Structures by Low-Rank Representation” (2012) · 3,659 citations
Dong Li, Associate Professorh-index 41
High performance computing - Fault tolerance/resilience in large-scale parallel and distributed systems - Power-aware computing - Performance modeling and optimization Education: - Ph.D., 2011, Virginia Tech Departments: Computer Science & Engineering (CSE
Notable: “Ergodic Capacity of Intelligent Reflecting Surface-Assisted Communication Systems With Phase Errors” (2020) · 195 citations
Shawn Newsam, Professorh-index 35
Image processing - Computer vision - Pattern recognition - Machine learning - Content-based information retrieval - Digital libraries, data mining and knowledge discovery in spatio-temporal, multimedia and scientific datasets Education: - Ph.D., 2004 — UC S
Notable: “Bag-of-visual-words and spatial extensions for land-use classification” (2010) · 2,888 citations
Stefano Carpin, Professor and Associate Dean for Research and Graduate Programsh-index 33
Robotics - Motion planning - Cooperative multi-robot systems - Urban search and rescue & service robotics - High fidelity robot simulation - Artificial intelligence Department: Dean's Office Education: - Ph.D., 2003 — University of Padova - Italy "Laurea" d
Notable: “USARSim: a robot simulator for research and education” (2007) · 423 citations
Ecosystem climate solutions; Water resources; Hydrology
Notable: “Mountain hydrology of the western United States” (2006) · 749 citations
Samuel Traina, Professor Emeritush-index 60
Chemical transformations of pollutants in soils, surface and ground water Education: Ph.D., 1983 — University of California, Berkeley B.S., 1978 — University of California, Berkeley Departments: Civil & Environmental Engineering (CEE
Notable: “Schwertmannite and the chemical modeling of iron in acid sulfate waters” (1996) · 1,050 citations
Asmeret Asefaw Berhe, Professorh-index 57
Effect of climate changes on storage and stabilization of soil organic matter - Nano-scale biogeochemistry of iron oxides - Erosion and terrestrial carbon sequestration - Political ecology of land degradation and ownership Education: - Ph.D., 2006 - Univers
Notable: “Soil and human security in the 21st century” (2015) · 1,462 citations
Joshua Viers, Professorh-index 43
Agroecology and Conservation Agriculture Planning and Implementation - Climatic and Hydrological Change Vulnerability Assessment and Adaptation Strategies - Ecosystem Service and Biodiversity Inventory, Assessment, and Restoration - Geospatial Technologies
Notable: “Threats and biodiversity in the mediterranean biome” (2008) · 403 citations
Notable: “Latino immigrant men and the deportation crisis: A gendered racial removal program” (2013) · 490 citations
Nella Van Dyke, Professorh-index 24
Notable: “Structural Social Change and the Mobilizing Effect of Threat: Explaining Levels of Patriot and Militia Organizing in the United States” (2002) · 330 citations
Laura Hamilton, Professorh-index 23
Notable: “Sexual Assault on Campus: A Multilevel, Integrative Approach to Party Rape” (2006) · 497 citations
Paul Almeida, Professor & Graduate Program Chairh-index 21
Notable: “Opportunity Organizations and Threat‐Induced Contention: Protest Waves in Authoritarian Settings” (2003) · 394 citations
Faculty counts are directory headcounts; the named list may be a subset. h-index shown only for ORCID-backed or high-confidence OpenAlex matches. Partial — enrichment ongoing.
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About University of California, Merced. University of California, Merced in Merced, CA reports an overall acceptance rate of 95.1%, an early-round acceptance rate of 95.1%, an SAT middle 50% of 1010–1230, a class size of 2,093, and a yield of 7.0% based on the most recent Common Data Set filings. Test-blind UC campus. Newest UC (founded 2005), rapidly growing. Research-focused with small class sizes and high faculty accessibility.
Admissions and cost data as of July 3, 2026 (CDS 2024–25 cycle), from the most recent Common Data Set, IPEDS, and College Scorecard.
University of California, Merced: key admissions facts
University of California, Merced's overall acceptance rate is 95.1% (the most recent Common Data Set). University of California, Merced's early-round acceptance rate is 95.1% (the most recent Common Data Set). University of California, Merced's SAT middle-50% range is 1010–1230 (the most recent Common Data Set). The average unweighted GPA of admitted students at University of California, Merced is about 3.7 (the most recent Common Data Set). University of California, Merced's yield rate (the share of admitted students who enroll) is 7.0% (the most recent Common Data Set). The average net price at University of California, Merced for families earning under $75,000 is about $9,322 per year (U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard/IPEDS data).
How much does University of California, Merced cost for a family earning $75,000?
A family earning under $30,000 pays about $7,945 per year in net price at University of California, Merced, while families earning over $110,000 pay about $28,734 (source: U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard/IPEDS data). A family earning $75,000 falls in the $48,001–$75,000 bracket and pays about $11,557 per year after grants and scholarships.
University of California, Merced: average annual net price by household income (most recent College Scorecard/IPEDS data)
Household income
Average net price per year
Under $30,000
$7,945
$30,001–$48,000
$8,465
$48,001–$75,000
$11,557
$75,001–$110,000
$14,828
Over $110,000
$28,734
Frequently asked questions
What is the acceptance rate at University of California, Merced?
University of California, Merced's overall acceptance rate is 95.1%, based on the most recent Common Data Set. Its early-round (early decision or early action) acceptance rate is 95.1%.
What SAT score and GPA do you need for University of California, Merced?
Admitted students at University of California, Merced typically have an SAT middle-50% range of 1010–1230 and an average unweighted GPA of about 3.7, according to the most recent Common Data Set. These are the middle of the range, so scores above them strengthen an application.
Is it hard to get into University of California, Merced?
Getting into University of California, Merced is relatively accessible: it admits 95.1% of applicants. Your realistic odds depend on how your GPA and test scores compare to its middle-50% ranges and on your application round — you can estimate them with the free College Monte Carlo chances calculator.
Does University of California, Merced offer early decision or early action?
University of California, Merced does not offer a binding early-decision or early-action round; applicants apply in the regular round.
How much does University of California, Merced cost after financial aid?
The average net price at University of California, Merced — the real cost after grants and scholarships, not the sticker price — is about $9,322 per year for families earning under $75,000, based on U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard/IPEDS data. Higher-income families generally pay more; see the full net-price-by-income breakdown.
How much does University of California, Merced cost for a family earning $75,000?
A family earning under $30,000 pays about $7,945 per year in net price at University of California, Merced, while families earning over $110,000 pay about $28,734 (source: U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard/IPEDS data). A family earning $75,000 falls in the $48,001–$75,000 bracket and pays about $11,557 per year after grants and scholarships.