Quad
U. California-Merced
U. Houston-Downtown

Key differences on Outcomes

  1. 1

    U. California-Merced graduates 16 pts more of its students than U. Houston-Downtown (72% vs. 55%)

    Graduation rate
  2. 2

    U. California-Merced grads earn $10.8K more ten years out than U. Houston-Downtown's ($64,368 vs. $53,551)

    Median earnings, 10 yrs

Outcomes

Outcomes

Earnings and finishing

Median earnings, 10 yrs
U. California-Merced$64.4K
U. Houston-Downtown$53.6K
Graduation rate
U. California-Merced72%
U. Houston-Downtown55%
Retention rate
U. California-Merced82%
U. Houston-Downtown67%

Borrowing

Median debt
U. California-Merced$16.1K
U. Houston-Downtown$18.8K
Undergrads with a federal loan
U. California-Merced29%
U. Houston-Downtown30%
Median debt, Pell Grant recipients
U. California-Merced$12.6K
U. Houston-Downtown$14.9K

Eight-year outcomes

Credential within 4 years, all students
U. California-Merced47%
U. Houston-Downtown43%
Credential within 8 years, all students
U. California-Merced70%
U. Houston-Downtown56%
Enrolled at another college, 8 years on
U. California-Merced12%
U. Houston-Downtown20%

Graduation by group

Graduated in 6 years, Pell Grant recipients
U. California-Merced68%
U. Houston-Downtown35%
Graduated in 6 years, neither Pell nor subsidized loan
U. California-Merced69%
U. Houston-Downtown28%
Pell graduation gap
U. California-Merced1 pts lower
U. Houston-Downtown7 pts higher

Graduated in 6 years, by race and ethnicity

GroupU. California-MercedU. Houston-Downtown
White67%24%
Asian75%29%
Hispanic/Latino67%35%
Black67%32%
Two or more races71%Not shown: under 30 students
International69%Not shown: under 30 students

All outcome numbers in the table

Sources:College Scorecard, most recent release;College Scorecard, Entered fall 2023;College Scorecard, 2023–24;IPEDS Outcome Measures survey, Students entering fall 2016;IPEDS Graduation Rates survey (Pell Grant and subsidized loan recipients), Entered fall 2018About the data(retrieved 2026-10-12)

Figures are the newest each college has published; years can differ between colleges. Each value's ⓘ shows its source and year. Why