UC Merced Chancellor Juan Sánchez Muñoz, Ph.D., and Merced Union High School District Superintendent Alan Peterson formally signed the first Merced Automatic Admission Program (MAAP) for students at MUHSD who complete specific requirements at the time of graduation.
“We were established not just in the Valley but for the Valley, and we will hold true to that promise,” Muñoz said during the signing ceremony at El Capitan High School. “We want every family in Merced County to know that a University of California education is right here close to home, and that you have the possibility to go from kindergarten through Ph.D. within minutes of your home, if you put in the work.”
The Merced Union High School District includes Atwater, Buhach Colony, El Capitan, Golden Valley, Livingston and Merced high schools, and four alternative education schools: Yosemite, Independence, Sequoia and Merced Adult.
“This will give our students a competitive advantage like never before and also enable us to keep more of our university-bound students close to home,” Peterson said. “In turn, our hope is that many of our best and brightest will choose to serve our local communities as they begin their careers.”
MAAP will allow students with a weighted GPA of 3.5 with no grade lower than a “C” to be automatically admitted to UC Merced through a streamlined admissions process.
Last fall, UC Merced signed the Merced Promise agreement to ease transfers from Merced College to the university.
“We want everyone to know that Merced County is a place where there are no limits on your intellectual journey,” Muñoz said.
