Quad

Head-to-head

U. California-Merced
U. Houston-Clear Lake

Key differences

The biggest gaps between these schools, largest first.

  1. 1

    U. California-Merced's grants cover 59% of its full price on average, vs. 39% at U. Houston-Clear Lake

    Aid generosity
  2. 2

    U. Houston-Clear Lake's yield is 15 pts higher than U. California-Merced's

    Yield rate
  3. 3

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

    Pell Grant recipients
  4. 4

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

    First-generation students
  5. 5

    U. California-Merced graduates 8 pts more of its students than U. Houston-Clear Lake (72% vs. 64%)

    Graduation rate
  6. 6

    U. California-Merced grads earn $5.4K more ten years out than U. Houston-Clear Lake's ($64,368 vs. $59,004)

    Median earnings, 10 yrs

The shape of each school

Each axis is a national rank among 4-year colleges; further out = more of it.

SelectivityTest scoresSizePell shareFirst-genDiversity

Hollow dots at the center mean that measure isn't reported.

Who's hardest to get into

U. Houston-Clear Lake admits 91%, U. California-Merced 91%; U. Houston-Clear Lake's yield is higher, at 22%.

Acceptance rate
U. California-Merced91%
U. Houston-Clear Lake91%
Quad's selectivity
  • U. California-MercedAccessible
  • U. Houston-Clear LakeOpen
SAT middle 50%Axis 900–1600
U. California-MercedTest-blind
U. Houston-Clear Lake
970–1150
How they read a recordfirst-years at 3.75+
  • U. California-MercedGPA, school record, and prep program required
  • U. Houston-Clear LakeRigor, GPA, and rank very important26%

Who's on each campus

U. California-Merced is a bit larger than U. Houston-Clear Lake (8,372 vs. 6,078 undergrads) and has the larger Pell share.

Undergrads
U. California-Merced8.4K
U. Houston-Clear Lake6.1K
Pell Grant share
U. California-Merced59%
U. Houston-Clear Lake45%

Majors and faculty

Research and Experimental Psychology leads at U. California-Merced, and Multi-/Interdisciplinary Studies at U. Houston-Clear Lake.

Students per faculty member
U. California-Merced20 to 1
U. Houston-Clear Lake15 to 1
Most popular majorshare of graduates
  • U. California-MercedResearch and Experimental Psychology, Other19%
  • U. Houston-Clear LakeMulti-/Interdisciplinary Studies, Other10%

What each costs

U. Houston-Clear Lake costs about $1.9K less a year than U. California-Merced on average; U. California-Merced's grants cover the larger share of its price.

Average cost, all students
U. California-Merced$16.8K
U. Houston-Clear Lake$14.9K
Aid generosity
U. California-Merced59%
U. Houston-Clear Lake39%

What each pays off

U. California-Merced's former students earn more, a median $64.4K ten years after enrolling; both graduate more than 60% within six years.

Median earnings, 10 years
U. California-Merced$64.4K
U. Houston-Clear Lake$59K
Graduation rate
U. California-Merced72%
U. Houston-Clear Lake64%

How each has changed

Applications grew at both; both got less selective.

Applications, 10-year change
  • U. California-MercedGrowing+96%
  • U. Houston-Clear LakeGrowing+125%
All the numbersEvery figure for these colleges in one table, with differences highlighted.
Sources for this comparisonEvery dataset and year behind the numbers in this comparison; tap any ⓘ for one number's source

Sources:IPEDS Admissions survey, Fall 2024;College Scorecard, Fall 2024;College Scorecard, most recent release;IPEDS Institutional Characteristics survey, 2023–24;IPEDS Student Financial Aid survey, 2023–24;College Scorecard, Entered fall 2023;IPEDS Fall Enrollment survey (part D), Fall 2024;IPEDS Completions survey (degrees awarded by field), 2024–25 graduates;College Scorecard, 2023–24;IPEDS Graduation Rates survey (Pell Grant and subsidized loan recipients), Entered fall 2018;University of Houston-Clear Lake Common Data Set 2024–25, Fall 2024About 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