and roughly 8,000 undergraduates and 700 graduate students were enrolled at UCM as of fall 2023. The university is classified among "R1: Doctoral Universities – Very High research activity" and had $62.2 million in research and development expenditures in 2023.
UC Merced is one of the largest employers in Merced County. The UC Merced Golden Bobcats currently compete in the NAIA as members of the Cal Pac. In 2025, the university plans to move to NCAA Division II.
== History ==
=== Early years ===
In the early 1980s, the Regents of the University of California initiated a formal process to identify a location for a new University of California campus. At the time, the San Joaquin Valley stood out as the largest and most densely populated region in the state that lacked a UC presence. On May 19, 1988, the UC Regents voted to move forward with a plan to establish a new campus in this region. This decision was largely influenced by mounting enrollment pressures across existing campuses and the long term projection …
