UC Merced Mechanical Engineering (Bachelor's): Tuition, Graduate Salary, and Debt
- Bachelor's in Mechanical Engineering
- Public university
- Merced, CA
- About 150 graduates a year
College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025
The short answer
UC Merced mechanical engineering graduates earn about what mechanical engineering graduates earn nationally, $67,096 in their first year. Where this program stands out is debt. The typical graduate leaves with $18,500 in federal loans, less than at 86% of mechanical engineering programs in the country. Strong value, but not one of the highest-paying mechanical engineering degrees in California.
How it compares
Each figure is the median for graduates of the program. The California and national columns are the medians across all mechanical engineering bachelor's programs that report the figure.
Five years out, UC Merced graduates earn less than the national figure and about $14,596 less than the California median. Several California programs with higher debt show higher pay by the five-year mark.
Debt and first-year pay at every California mechanical engineering program
Programs in the upper left give graduates higher pay for less debt. Dashed lines mark the California medians.
Hover over or tap a dot to see the school. Only programs that report both earnings and debt are shown.
What graduates earn over time
Pay rises about 27% between the first and fifth year.
Year 1 and year 5 figures come from different graduating classes, so the growth rate is an estimate.
Does family income change the outcome?
Graduates who received Pell Grants, which go to students from lower-income families, earned about the same in their first year as other graduates. At this program, the outcome does not look worse for students with less money.
Paying back the loans
On a standard 10-year plan, the median debt means a payment of about $196 a month, or 3.5% of a graduate's typical monthly pay in the first year.
The government publishes these as ranges to protect privacy. They were measured in 2018 to 2020, partly during the pandemic pause on federal loan payments, so the forbearance share may be higher than usual. Separately, 39 parents took out Parent PLUS loans for these students, with a median of $14,805.
Where graduates work, and what the pay is worth
90% of graduates (158 of 175) were working in California one year after graduating. Prices in the Merced area are about 2% below the national average, so a $67,096 salary here buys what about $68,274 buys in a typical US city.
Careers this field leads to
These are the jobs that the federal crosswalk from fields of study to occupations links to mechanical engineering, largest first. Pay is the median across all experience levels.
Mechanical Engineers
$130,900Median pay in California. 30,530 people work in this job in California. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 11% from 2025 to 2035, with about 17,800 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree.
Cost Estimators
$85,460Median pay in California. 26,020 people work in this job in California. Nationally, jobs are projected to shrink 3% from 2025 to 2035, with about 17,600 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree.
Architectural and Engineering Managers
$210,280Median pay in California. 29,630 people work in this job in California. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 6% from 2025 to 2035, with about 14,900 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree, plus 5 years or more of related work experience.
Aerospace Engineers
$157,620Median pay in California. 9,170 people work in this job in California. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 8% from 2025 to 2035, with about 3,800 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree.
About UC Merced
Mechanical Engineering ranks 1st of 16 bachelor's programs at UC Merced by first-year earnings. The top three are Mechanical Engineering ($67,096), Computer Engineering ($58,835), and Biomedical Engineering ($57,223).
Other mechanical engineering bachelor's programs near Merced
Common questions
The median graduate earns $67,096 one year after graduating and $85,156 five years after. The median across mechanical engineering bachelor's programs in California is $72,436.
The median federal loan balance is $18,500, which ranks 12th lowest of 26 mechanical engineering bachelor's programs in California. That works out to about $196 a month over 10 years.
On the numbers, yes for most students. Debt equals 28% of first-year earnings, against a national median of 35%, and the share of borrowers in default two years into repayment is 10% or less. If the highest possible early salary is the main goal, several California programs report higher pay, usually with more debt.
Most do. 90% (158 of 175) were working in California one year after graduating.
About this data
- Earnings and debt only include students who received federal financial aid (grants or loans).
- Earnings only count graduates who were working and not enrolled in more school. Graduates who went straight to further study are not included.
- Debt only includes federal loans. Private loans and credit cards are not counted.
- Some schools with several campuses report one combined figure for all of them. We count each of those schools once, and leave them out of California comparisons when their main campus is in another state.
- Scorecard figures describe graduating classes from several years ago. BLS wages are from May 2025.
- School-level numbers like tuition, admission rate, and graduation rate are for the whole school, not the mechanical engineering program.
Sources
- U.S. Department of Education, College Scorecard, field of study and institution files, June 2026 release
- Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025
- Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment Projections 2025 to 2035
- Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities, 2024
- NCES, CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 crosswalk, and IPEDS institution directory, 2024