Summer Session, the Division of Undergraduate Education, and UC Merced offer a program for rising junior and senior high school students.
The program allows high school students (who will be high school juniors or seniors in fall) to take courses at UC Merced this summer for a discounted price!
University of California, Merced courses are transferable to other colleges and universities. Students who take a UC Merced course and transfer it to another UC campus take both the course credit and the GPA. More information about transferability may be found here.
Program Information
Qualifications: Students who will be Seniors or Juniors in high school in fall 2024.
Cost: High School students may enroll in up to 10 units for $210 per unit. One four-unit course will cost $840.00
The application fee and campus-based fees are waived for students who enroll in this program.
How to Apply: The application may be found here.
The Summer High School Student discount program will open for enrollment on Tuesday, May 15, 2024. Students may apply before that date, but they will not be able to enroll in courses until May 15, 2024, and will be limited to the courses that are available seats at that time[1].
Unit/Course Availability: The discount program is available for up to 10 units.
Most courses are four (4) units and students will be able to enroll in two courses. There are a limited number of courses that include a four-unit lecture and a one-unit lab, for a total of five units, and the 10-unit cap is intended to accommodate students who wish to take five (5) unit courses.
Additional Requirements: Letter of Recommendation & Unofficial High School Transcripts (and college transcripts if you have taken college courses that are not on your high school transcript)
High school students are required to submit a written recommendation from a high school counselor or administrator at their school in order to apply for this program. The letter should acknowledge that the school understands the student plans to enroll in a summer course or two at UC Merced and that the student is in good academic standing. Ideally, this document will be a PDF the student can easily attach during the application process.
High school students are required to attach a current unofficial transcript from their high school in their application in order to be eligible for the discount. This can be a picture snapped with their phone, or a PDF or Word document printed electronically that they will attach during the application process.
If the High School student has taken courses at a community college that are prerequisites for a UC Merced course they wish to take, they should also submit an unofficial transcript that shows a passing grade in the community college prerequisite course.
How it works/What to expect:
- Students fill out the discount program application and attach their high school transcript, and letter of recommendation (and college transcript if they have taken college courses that are not on their high school transcript).
- Their application will be reviewed and then forwarded to the University Registrar for processing.
- Once the new UC Merced student identity has been created, the student will receive an email with instructions on how to claim their UC Merced email and register for courses.
- On May 15, 2024, they will receive access to enroll themselves in courses. They will only be able to enroll in courses that do not have prerequisites or courses for which they have completed the prerequisite (such as if they completed a community college course that is the same as the UC Merced prerequisite).
- Enrolling in a course(s) will generate a bill. The bill needs to be paid by the end of the first day of instruction for the course(s) the student is enrolled in.
- Online and in-person courses are available.
Questions? Please email us at summersession@ucmerced.edu
[1] High School students are welcome to enroll earlier but priority enrollment to guarantee seats in specific courses does qualify for the discounted enrollment program.
