University of California-Merced

What the IPEDS & College Scorecard Data Shows for University of California-Merced

University of California-Merced operates as a public institution located in Merced, California (suburb: midsize), with a total reported enrollment of 8,372 students of which 8,917 are undergraduates. Institution-level records in the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) classify each school by Carnegie category, ownership sector, and urban/rural locale, which is how this profile’s peer group and cost cohort are determined. University of California-Merced is categorized as “16” under the Carnegie classification system, a meaningful signal when comparing like-to-like institutions.

Selectivity and financial signals give context to what applicants can expect. The reported admission rate is 90.5%, drawn from the most recent IPEDS Fall enrollment survey. The average net price after grants and scholarships is $11,983, with published in-state tuition of $15,623 and a Pell grant recipient share of 58.9%. Median federal student debt at graduation is $16,144, drawn from the U.S. Treasury-matched College Scorecard file.

Outcomes reveal whether the investment pays back. The 4-year completion rate is 68.9%, and the first-year retention rate is 82.1%. Graduates earn a median of $64,368 ten years after enrolling, compared with $48,475 six years post-enrollment. Within three years of entering repayment, 142300.0% of borrowers are making progress on their federal loans, and 60.8% of graduates earn above the high-school threshold. Treating these numbers as a single snapshot alongside the cost cohort is the standard approach for evaluating ROI under the College Scorecard methodology.