News

UC Merced's Study Abroad Program Among the Country's Best

April 1, 2026

Frida Quinto Ruiz went to Sweden with a curious mind. She came home with a plan. "Studying abroad completely reshaped the direction of my college career in ways I never expected," she said. "I went to Sweden already curious about the world, but I came back with a much clearer sense of where I want...

Commuter Student Finds Belonging at UC Merced

March 31, 2026

Most weekdays, civil engineering major Jacqueline Garcia travels 45 minutes each way from her hometown of Hughson to attend classes at UC Merced. “The perk is being able to pursue my undergraduate degree while still having a tie to home. It's been great having the campus here in the Valley,” she...

Her UC Merced Path Changed But Stockton Student Stays on Track

March 25, 2026

Taliyah Miller would be the first to tell you she arrived at UC Merced with an unwavering, long-range goal: become an anesthesiologist. What she could not have predicted was that a difficult roommate, a therapist’s question and a job she forgot she applied for would upend that goal and leave her...

CalTeach and Local Schools Team Up to Energize Learning across Merced County

March 23, 2026

UC Merced’s CalTeach program is opening new pathways for younger students to experience hands-on science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) learning, academic support and early exposure to a college environment. The CalTeach program, present at every UC campus that offers undergraduate...

Ripon Student Turning Heart and Heritage into a Path of Healing

March 19, 2026

As a child of the Central Valley and a member of a Native tribe, Grace Grinder developed an early awareness of health care disparities affecting rural regions and underserved communities. While in third grade, Grinder lost her grandmother to what she described as too few physicians nearby to...

Toloma 5K to Celebrate Native Heritage, Community at UC Merced

March 19, 2026

UC Merced’s Division of Equity, Justice, and Inclusive Excellence will bring campus and community together Saturday, March 21 for the annual Toloma 5K, a morning run and walk that celebrates Native heritage, community connection and the relationship between Indigenous peoples and the land. The run/...

Ants, Endurance and a Ph.D. at the Finish Line

March 18, 2026

On most days, Reo Maynard’s life swings between two ecosystems: the microscopic world inside an ant’s gut and the sprawling one that stretches from Fresno to the Sierra Nevada mountains. The 51-year-old Navy veteran, dad of two, screenwriter-in-waiting and newly minted Fresno City College faculty...

Delhi Student Made the Leap to UC Merced and Hasn’t Looked Back

March 17, 2026

Her fingers hovered over the keyboard. A few more taps and Nayelyi Salazar would be a community college student — a big step for the high-schooler from Delhi, a town of 10,000 that hugs California’s Highway 99. She hesitated. Days earlier, she received an acceptance letter from a University of...

Student Finds Community and Purpose Through Culture and Literature

March 12, 2026

Between classes at UC Merced, you will often find Padme James under the trees outside the Leo and Dottie Kolligian Library. What she studies there isn’t directly correlated to her classwork, but it connects her roots to where she hopes her future is headed. Instead of reviewing notes for a lecture...

Student Philanthropy Month Returns to UC Merced with Focus on Service and Giving

March 11, 2026

Student Philanthropy Month, now in its fifth consecutive year, gives students opportunities throughout March to better understand philanthropy and its impact on the university, the community and beyond. UC Merced Alumni Relations, in partnership with the UC Merced Student Alumni Association, is...