University of California, Merced vs University of California, Riverside: Acceptance Rate, SAT & Net Price

University of California, Merced and University of California, Riverside are about equally selective, admitting 96.5% and 88.5% of applicants respectively. For a family earning $48,001–$75,000, the average net price is about $11,557 per year at University of California, Merced versus $13,111 at University of California, Riverside.

University of California, Merced vs University of California, Riverside: admissions and cost statistics from the most recent Common Data Set, IPEDS, and College Scorecard
MetricUniversity of California, MercedUniversity of California, Riverside
Overall acceptance rate96.5%88.5%
Early acceptance rate96.5%88.5%
SAT middle 50%1010–12301100–1320
Avg unweighted GPA3.73.7
Yield rate4.3%12.7%
Class size1,9826,686
Net price, $48,001–$75,000 income$11,557$13,111
Net price, over $110,000 income$28,734$30,393

Admissions and cost data as of July 3, 2026 (CDS 2025–26 cycle), from the most recent Common Data Set, IPEDS, and College Scorecard. Rows appear only where both colleges report the statistic.

Frequently asked questions

Is University of California, Merced harder to get into than University of California, Riverside?

The two are about equally selective: University of California, Merced admits 96.5% of applicants and University of California, Riverside admits 88.5%, based on the most recent Common Data Set.

Which is cheaper for a middle-income family, University of California, Merced or University of California, Riverside?

For a family earning $48,001–$75,000, the average net price is about $11,557 per year at University of California, Merced and $13,111 at University of California, Riverside, so University of California, Merced is the lower-cost option at that income level (source: U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard/IPEDS data).

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