California's Central Valley Boosts Higher Ed Resources

Amid grazing lands near Merced, in the San Joaquin Valley, contractors are racing to complete work so the University of California can open its first new campus in 40 years. Officials say one-third of the 1,000 students expected this fall will come from the heavily agricultural and historically underserved region.

The new location will be the UC system's tenth campus, but the first in the Central Valley, where college attendance has trailed the rest of the state. "When [officials] began exploring the idea of a new campus in the late 1980s, the Central Valley was tops in projected growth in college-age students, and was the most underserved," says Lindsay Desrochers, UC-Merced vice chancellor for administration.

About $350 million worth of construction on 102 acres is under way, including a "village" of nine residential buildings for 600 students and a central plant. The academic buildings–a library, classroom and office building and a science and engineering facility–outline what will eventually become the school’s main quad. Later this summer or in early fall, administrators expect to break ground for a recreation center and a facilities maintenance building. By 2030, the campus will expand to 25,000 students and will occupy 910 acres, planners say.

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