Quad

Key differences on Students & campus

  1. 1

    U. California-Merced has 14 pts more Pell recipients than U. Houston-Clear Lake (59% vs. 45%)

    Pell Grant recipients
  2. 2

    U. California-Merced has 9 pts more first-gen students than U. Houston-Clear Lake (57% vs. 48%)

    First-generation students
  3. 3

    U. California-Merced is a bit larger (8,372 vs. 6,078)

    Undergrads

Students

Students & campus

Who's on each campus, how many get Pell Grants or are the first in their family, and campus life.

Who's on campus

Undergrads
U. California-Merced8.4K
U. Houston-Clear Lake6.1K
Pell Grant share
U. California-Merced59%
U. Houston-Clear Lake45%
First-gen share
U. California-Merced57%
U. Houston-Clear Lake48%
Diversity index
U. California-Merced0.62
U. Houston-Clear Lake0.65

Who they are

Men
U. California-Merced55%
U. Houston-Clear Lake39%
Part-time students
U. California-Merced2%
U. Houston-Clear Lake47%
Students 25 and older
U. California-Merced2%
U. Houston-Clear Lake39%

Race & ethnicity

U. California-Merced
U. Houston-Clear Lake
  • White
  • Asian
  • Hispanic/Latino
  • Black
  • Two or more
  • International
  • Other/unknown

Where they're from

First-years from in state
U. California-Merced98%
U. Houston-Clear Lake98%
First-years from other states
U. California-Merced1%
U. Houston-Clear Lake1%
First-years from abroad
U. California-Merced2%
U. Houston-Clear Lake1%
New transfer students this fall
U. California-Merced225
U. Houston-Clear Lake942
Transfers, share of new undergraduates
U. California-Merced10%
U. Houston-Clear Lake67%

Campus

U. California-Merced
Midsize suburbNAIA · California Pacific ConferenceROTCStudy abroadUndergrad research
U. Houston-Clear Lake
Midsize cityStudy abroadUndergrad research

LGBTQ+ policies

Each item is dated: either the college's own page, checked on that date, or a national list's claim, read on that date — never a plain “yes” or “no.” A key missing for a college isn't shown as “no”: nothing was found for it.

All student numbers in the table

Sources:College Scorecard, Fall 2024;College Scorecard, most recent release;College Scorecard, Fall 2023;IPEDS Fall Enrollment survey (part C, residence of first-time students), Fall 2024;IPEDS Fall Enrollment survey (part A, enrollment by level), Fall 2024;IPEDS directory (Institutional Characteristics: HD), 2025–26;IPEDS Institutional Characteristics survey, 2023–24;IPEDS Institutional Characteristics survey (athletics, programs, services, religious affiliation), 2025–26About 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