CSU Bakersfield vs UC Merced

California State University-Bakersfield (CSUB) and University of California-Merced (UC-Merced) are two distinct institutions offering unique educational experiences. CSUB, located in the heart of California's Central Valley, boasts a diverse student body and a strong focus on undergraduate education. UC-Merced, situated in the vibrant city of Merced, is a research-intensive university with a growing reputation for academic excellence. While both universities offer a wide range of academic programs, they differ in terms of acceptance rates, popular majors, student demographics, and graduation rates. Explore our comprehensive comparison table to discover which university aligns best with your academic aspirations and personal preferences.

	California State University-Bakersfield	University of California-Merced
Overview
Location	Bakersfield, California	Merced, California
Campus setting	City: Large	Rural: Fringe
College type	4 year	4 year
Control/business model	Public	Public
Calendar system	Semester	Semester
Degrees offered	Undergraduate and Graduate	Undergraduate and Graduate
Students retention rate	75.0%	79.0%
Common app member	No	No
Religious affiliation

Admission
Acceptance rate	85.2%	86.6%
Application fees	Undergraduate: $70 Graduate: $70	Undergraduate: $70 Graduate: $120
SAT range	N/A	N/A
ACT range	N/A	N/A
Students submitting SAT score
Students submitting ACT score
Total number of applicants	12,334	27,793
Total number of admissions given out	10,510	24,068
Admitted students who chose to enroll	1,165	2,410
Yield rate	11.1%	10.0%
Test scores (SAT/ACT)	N/A	N/A
High school GPA	Required	Required
Recommendation letters	Not required	Not required
High school transcript	Not required	Not required
English proficiency test (e.g. TOEFL)	Not required	Required

Tuition and Fees
Sticker price	In state: $28,783 Out of state: $40,663	In state: $28,870 Out of state: $58,624
Average net price	$7,368	$11,586
Tuition	In state: $5,742 Out of state: $17,622	In state: $11,442 Out of state: $41,196
Room & board	Room/dormitory: $9,000 Meal plan: $4,200	$18,901
Available payment plans	Tuition payment plan	Tuition payment plan

Financial Aid
Students receiving financial aid (Grants & scholarships)	88.0% Average amount $10,725	92.0% Average amount $21,623
Students receiving federal student loan	16.0% Average amount $4,511	18.0% Average amount $4,470
Students taking out private loans	1.0% Average amount $5,495	1.0% Average amount $2,687

Students and Campus
Undergraduate students	9,367 Men 34.7% Women 65.3%	8,321 Men 47.7% Women 52.3%
Graduate students	1,605 Men 25.1% Women 74.9%	772 Men 55.8% Women 44.2%
Racial/ethnic diversity	Low	Low
Out-of-state students	1.9%	0.2%
International students	3.7%	8.7%
Campus local/setting	City: Large	Rural: Fringe
Dormitory capacity	500	3,634
First year students are required to live on campus?	No	No
Top 5 states where most U.S. students come from	California Arizona Colorado Washington Florida	California Alaska Idaho Missouri Texas

Academics
Popular study areas	Education Public Administration and Social Service Kinesiology & Leisure Studies Communication and Journalism Business	Engineering Physical Science Social Sciences English Language and Literature Psychology
Students to faculty ratio	21:1	19:1
Institutional accreditation	Western Association of Schools and Colleges Senior Colleges and University Commission	Western Association of Schools and Colleges Senior Colleges and University Commission

Outcome
Graduation rate	47.6%	71.6%
Dropout rate	43.9%	5.0%
Transferred out	1.8%	22.6%
Alumni salary by major (Top 10)	Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $81,247 Year 2: $80,521 Year 3: $85,224 Business Administration, Management and Operations (Master's Degrees) Year 1: $63,530 Year 2: $71,015 Year 3: $79,366 Education, General (Master's Degrees) Year 1: $66,597 Year 2: $67,995 Year 3: $72,066 Engineering Science (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $59,382 Year 2: $48,041 Year 3: $64,423 Social Work (Master's Degrees) Year 1: $57,342 Year 2: $58,943 Year 3: $64,084 Natural Resources Management and Policy (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $58,673 Year 3: $63,823 Student Counseling and Personnel Services (Master's Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $53,608 Year 3: $62,781 Computer Science (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $50,856 Year 3: $60,695 Clinical, Counseling and Applied Psychology (Master's Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $54,359 Year 3: $60,583 Public Administration (Master's Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $52,941 Year 3: $60,474	Computer Engineering (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $54,675 Year 2: $55,286 Year 3: $68,164 Mechanical Engineering (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $55,936 Year 2: $51,392 Year 3: $67,761 Economics (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $30,771 Year 2: $43,000 Year 3: $57,642 Biomedical/Medical Engineering (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $38,420 Year 2: $39,729 Year 3: $53,045 Business Administration, Management and Operations (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $41,245 Year 2: $41,937 Year 3: $50,288 Applied Mathematics (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $32,755 Year 2: N/A Year 3: $49,047 Environmental/Environmental Health Engineering (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $40,917 Year 2: $38,721 Year 3: $47,958 Biology, General (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $29,685 Year 2: $31,391 Year 3: $43,274 Chemistry (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $37,397 Year 2: $29,685 Year 3: $42,368 Cognitive Science (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $27,909 Year 2: $28,960 Year 3: $40,928

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CSU Bakersfield vs UC Merced

California State University-Bakersfield

University of California-Merced

Overview

Admission

Tuition and Fees

Financial Aid

Students and Campus

Academics

Outcome

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