Cal State Long Beach vs UC Merced

California State University-Long Beach (CSULB) and University of California-Merced (UC-Merced) are two distinct public universities in California, each offering unique educational experiences. CSULB, located in the vibrant city of Long Beach, boasts a diverse student body and a wide range of academic programs, while UC-Merced, situated in the heart of the San Joaquin Valley, is known for its strong research focus and commitment to undergraduate education. With different acceptance rates, popular majors, student demographics, and graduation rates, these universities cater to different student needs and aspirations. Explore our comprehensive comparison table to discover which institution aligns best with your academic goals and personal preferences.

	California State University-Long Beach	University of California-Merced
Overview
Location	Long Beach, 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	87.0%	79.0%
Common app member	No	No
Religious affiliation

Admission
Acceptance rate	46.9%	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	67,122	27,793
Total number of admissions given out	31,448	24,068
Admitted students who chose to enroll	4,865	2,410
Yield rate	15.5%	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: $24,912 Out of state: $36,792	In state: $28,870 Out of state: $58,624
Average net price	$9,171	$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: $8,590 Meal plan: $4,324	$18,901
Available payment plans	Tuition payment plan	Tuition payment plan

Financial Aid
Students receiving financial aid (Grants & scholarships)	75.0% Average amount $9,433	92.0% Average amount $21,623
Students receiving federal student loan	19.0% Average amount $4,565	18.0% Average amount $4,470
Students taking out private loans	0.0% Average amount $15,875	1.0% Average amount $2,687

Students and Campus
Undergraduate students	33,897 Men 42.3% Women 57.7%	8,321 Men 47.7% Women 52.3%
Graduate students	6,293 Men 37.5% Women 62.5%	772 Men 55.8% Women 44.2%
Racial/ethnic diversity	Moderate	Low
Out-of-state students	1.4%	0.2%
International students	6.1%	8.7%
Campus local/setting	City: Large	Rural: Fringe
Dormitory capacity	3,206	3,634
First year students are required to live on campus?	No	No
Top 5 states where most U.S. students come from	California Texas Washington Pennsylvania Illinois	California Alaska Idaho Missouri Texas

Academics
Popular study areas	Health Professions Engineering Visual & Performing Arts Kinesiology & Leisure Studies Public Administration and Social Service	Engineering Physical Science Social Sciences English Language and Literature Psychology
Students to faculty ratio	23:1	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	75.5%	71.6%
Dropout rate	19.7%	5.0%
Transferred out	1.9%	22.6%
Alumni salary by major (Top 10)	Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing (Master's Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $118,210 Year 3: $114,438 Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing (Graduate/Professional Certificates) Year 1: $114,350 Year 2: $111,435 Year 3: $111,518 Educational Administration and Supervision (Doctoral Degrees) Year 1: $91,030 Year 2: $106,421 Year 3: $105,845 Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $83,777 Year 2: $85,795 Year 3: $94,848 Electrical, Electronics and Communications Engineering (Master's Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $81,997 Year 3: $89,816 Construction Engineering Technologies (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $83,666 Year 2: $81,175 Year 3: $89,338 Clinical, Counseling and Applied Psychology (Master's Degrees) Year 1: $69,765 Year 2: $76,930 Year 3: $82,103 Rehabilitation and Therapeutic Professions (Doctoral Degrees) Year 1: $76,747 Year 2: $79,755 Year 3: $81,071 Applied Mathematics (Master's Degrees) Year 1: $61,730 Year 2: $63,005 Year 3: $80,992 Business Administration, Management and Operations (Master's Degrees) Year 1: $77,447 Year 2: $67,660 Year 3: $79,909	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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Cal State Long Beach vs UC Merced

California State University-Long Beach

University of California-Merced

Overview

Admission

Tuition and Fees

Financial Aid

Students and Campus

Academics

Outcome

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