MERCED, CALIF. — The University of California Merced (UC Merced) and Merced College have announced plans to jointly develop a 488-bed student housing project for community college and transfer students. The California Legislature gave final approval for the $100 million mechanism that will fund the project. The Promise Housing facility will offer rooms on the UC Merced campus for income-qualified community college students that have met the academic requirements of the university’s Merced Promise agreement. The Merced Promise program was created to encourage the most promising and in-need student populations in California’s Central Valley to transform their lives through the pursuit of higher education. “This joint affordable housing project will be a game-changer for our historically underserved region, removing barriers for our students seeking to transfer to UC Merced and providing them with an opportunity to complete their transfer degree at Merced College while fully engaging in campus life at UC Merced,” says Chris Vitelli, president of Merced College. A timeline for the development was not announced.
