News Update

UC Merced will guarantee admission to local high school students who meet GPA requirements

UC Merced announced Monday that it will guarantee admission to students in a local school district who meet requirements ahead of graduation.

Students who graduate from Merced Unified High School District with a grade point average of 3.5 or better and have no grade lower than a C will be automatically admitted to UC Merced under the new program.

There are six high schools in that district: Atwater, Buhach Colony, El Capitan, Golden Valley, Livingston and Merced high schools. The district also includes four alternative education schools: Independence, Sequoia, Yosemite and Merced Adult.

“We were established not just in the Valley but for the Valley, and we will hold true to that promise,” UC Merced Chancellor Juan Sánchez Muñoz said while announcing the new program Monday. “We want every family in Merced County to know that a University of California education is right here close to home, and that you have the possibility to go from kindergarten through Ph.D. within minutes of your home, if you put in the work.”