CA
Merced College
0.32 incidents / 1,000 students
Merced, CA · Clery Act 2024 · Public
Merced College
Across 2022–2024, Merced College reported 8 incidents in the Clery Criminal Offenses section, and the yearly count fell over that span (largest filed category: Burglary). Nearby same-state same-level comparison: Los Angeles Trade Technical College.
- 0.32
- Incidents / 1k students
- #203
- Rank of 2,072
- #132
- CA rank
- 12,472
- Enrolled students
0.32 reported score-category incidents per 1,000 students
Merced College reports 0.32 2024 score-category incidents per 1,000 - 80% below Case Western Reserve University. Similar-enrollment scored peers: Case Western Reserve University (4.57/1k); Grand Rapids Community College (0.72/1k); Bellevue College (1.28/1k); Tallahassee State College (0.08/1k); Los Angeles Trade Technical College (1.36/1k). Same-state same-level set also includes Los Angeles Trade Technical College (1.36/1k); Santa Barbara City College (0.57/1k); Ventura College (0.25/1k); Chabot College (1.09/1k); College of the Desert (0.31/1k); Glendale Community College (0.91/1k); Irvine Valley College (0.23/1k); Moreno Valley College (0.17/1k). Largest Criminal Offenses total across filed years: Burglary.
Data source U.S. Department of Education, OPE Campus Safety and Security Survey
- incidents / 1,000 students
- 0.32
- of 2,072 ranked nationally
- #203
- safer than ranked campuses its size
- 90%
- Criminal Offenses, 2024
- 3
Source: U.S. Department of Education OPE Campus Safety and Security Survey
Data updated August 2026
Clery Act plate
Sheet 118718 · Merced College 0.32/1k score rate · #203/2,072
RATE-QUIET · RANK-TOP · ST-MID · ABOVE-PEER · ZERO-NONE · TREND-DOWN · CAT-LEAD · ENR-MID · FIRE-NONE
- RATE-QUIET 0.32/1k
- RANK-TOP #203/2,072
- ST-MID #132 in state
- ABOVE-PEER Tallahassee State College · +0.24
- ZERO-NONE Scored
- TREND-DOWN ↓ 25%
- CAT-LEAD Burglary
- ENR-MID 12,472
- FIRE-NONE No res filing
Nearest enrollment peer: Tallahassee State College (-0.24/1k)
Merced College sheet RATE-QUIET · RANK-TOP · ST-MID · ABOVE-PEER · ZERO-NONE · TREND-DOWN · CAT-LEAD · ENR-MID · FIRE-NONE · peer Tallahassee State College. Codes from this campus OPE filing: score-category rate, national/state rank, named enrollment peer, zero posture, Criminal Offenses trend, lead category, enrollment band, fire filing. Not a moving recommendation.
Clery plate RATE-QUIET · RANK-TOP · ST-MID · ABOVE-PEER · ZERO-NONE · TREND-DOWN · CAT-LEAD · ENR-MID · FIRE-NONE. Nearest similar-enrollment peer is Tallahassee State College (-0.24/1k). National rank #203 of 2,072 scored campuses. Instrument codes from this campus OPE sheet; compare similarly sized peers before treating any single rate as decisive.
Merced College reports 0.32 2024 score-category incidents per 1,000 - 80% below Case Western Reserve University. Similar-enrollment scored peers: Case Western Reserve University (4.57/1k); Grand Rapids Community College (0.72/1k); Bellevue College (1.28/1k); Tallahassee State College (0.08/1k); Los Angeles Trade Technical College (1.36/1k). Same-state same-level set also includes Los Angeles Trade Technical College (1.36/1k); Santa Barbara City College (0.57/1k); Ventura College (0.25/1k); Chabot College (1.09/1k); College of the Desert (0.31/1k); Glendale Community College (0.91/1k); Irvine Valley College (0.23/1k); Moreno Valley College (0.17/1k). Largest Criminal Offenses total across filed years: Burglary.
Peer-rate neighbourhood around Merced College
Lowest/highest enrollment peers plus campuses nearest Merced on score-category rate. Full ladder: /rankings/safest-campuses.
- Tallahassee State College · lowest peer 0.08
Tallahassee State College — lowest peer
0.08 per 1,000 students
- Merced College · this campus 0.32
Merced College — this campus
0.32 per 1,000 students
- Grand Rapids Community College · near 0.72
Grand Rapids Community College — near
0.72 per 1,000 students
- Bellevue College · near 1.28
Bellevue College — near
1.28 per 1,000 students
- Case Western Reserve University · highest peer
Case Western Reserve University — highest peer
4.57 per 1,000 students
What this shows Neighbourhood of similar-enrollment peers around Merced College's 0.32/1k rate, not a full-corpus distribution reprint.
Reporting-period change
What changed in 2024
Merced College increased from 1 to 3 reported on-campus incidents between the 2023 and 2024 reporting years in the U.S. Department of Education OPE Campus Safety Survey.
This is a change in reported incidents, not a measure of individual safety. Enrollment, reporting practice, and category coverage can affect the count.
See national reporting-year changesSignature insight · size does not equal danger
Campus size vs reported safety rate
Among 37 CA 2-year peers in this comparison, Merced College is larger than 64% and safer-reporting than 58% - the larger, safer-reporting quadrant. Axes are within-sample percentiles so outliers share the same frame; a higher safety percentile means a lower Clery incidents-per-1,000 rate.
Read the chart as text
- Point 1: Enrollment size, percentile in sample 67, Safer-reporting percentile (lower rate) 3
- Point 2: Enrollment size, percentile in sample 61, Safer-reporting percentile (lower rate) 39
- Point 3: Enrollment size, percentile in sample 58, Safer-reporting percentile (lower rate) 69
- Point 4: Enrollment size, percentile in sample 69, Safer-reporting percentile (lower rate) 8
- Point 5: Enrollment size, percentile in sample 72, Safer-reporting percentile (lower rate) 61
- Point 6: Enrollment size, percentile in sample 56, Safer-reporting percentile (lower rate) 17
- Point 7: Enrollment size, percentile in sample 75, Safer-reporting percentile (lower rate) 72
- Point 8: Enrollment size, percentile in sample 53, Safer-reporting percentile (lower rate) 81
- Point 9: Enrollment size, percentile in sample 50, Safer-reporting percentile (lower rate) 67
- Point 10: Enrollment size, percentile in sample 78, Safer-reporting percentile (lower rate) 0
- Point 11: Enrollment size, percentile in sample 47, Safer-reporting percentile (lower rate) 33
- Point 12: Enrollment size, percentile in sample 44, Safer-reporting percentile (lower rate) 89
- Point 13: Enrollment size, percentile in sample 42, Safer-reporting percentile (lower rate) 78
- Point 14: Enrollment size, percentile in sample 39, Safer-reporting percentile (lower rate) 94
- Point 15: Enrollment size, percentile in sample 36, Safer-reporting percentile (lower rate) 94
- Point 16: Enrollment size, percentile in sample 33, Safer-reporting percentile (lower rate) 64
- Point 17: Enrollment size, percentile in sample 81, Safer-reporting percentile (lower rate) 14
- Point 18: Enrollment size, percentile in sample 31, Safer-reporting percentile (lower rate) 6
- Point 19: Enrollment size, percentile in sample 28, Safer-reporting percentile (lower rate) 47
- Point 20: Enrollment size, percentile in sample 83, Safer-reporting percentile (lower rate) 53
- Point 21: Enrollment size, percentile in sample 86, Safer-reporting percentile (lower rate) 92
- Point 22: Enrollment size, percentile in sample 89, Safer-reporting percentile (lower rate) 31
- Point 23: Enrollment size, percentile in sample 25, Safer-reporting percentile (lower rate) 56
- Point 24: Enrollment size, percentile in sample 92, Safer-reporting percentile (lower rate) 83
- Point 25: Enrollment size, percentile in sample 22, Safer-reporting percentile (lower rate) 36
- Point 26: Enrollment size, percentile in sample 94, Safer-reporting percentile (lower rate) 22
- Point 27: Enrollment size, percentile in sample 19, Safer-reporting percentile (lower rate) 86
- Point 28: Enrollment size, percentile in sample 17, Safer-reporting percentile (lower rate) 25
- Point 29: Enrollment size, percentile in sample 14, Safer-reporting percentile (lower rate) 44
- Point 30: Enrollment size, percentile in sample 11, Safer-reporting percentile (lower rate) 42
- Point 31: Enrollment size, percentile in sample 8, Safer-reporting percentile (lower rate) 50
- Point 32: Enrollment size, percentile in sample 97, Safer-reporting percentile (lower rate) 28
- Point 33: Enrollment size, percentile in sample 6, Safer-reporting percentile (lower rate) 19
- Point 34: Enrollment size, percentile in sample 3, Safer-reporting percentile (lower rate) 94
- Point 35: Enrollment size, percentile in sample 100, Safer-reporting percentile (lower rate) 11
- Point 36: Enrollment size, percentile in sample 0, Safer-reporting percentile (lower rate) 75
- Merced College: Enrollment size, percentile in sample 64, Safer-reporting percentile (lower rate) 58
Read the chart as a table
| Campus | Enrollment | Rate / 1k | Size pct | Safety pct |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cuyamaca College | 8,905 | 0.22 | 0 | 75 |
| Coastline Community College | 9,008 | 0.00 | 3 | 94 |
| Ohlone College | 9,061 | 0.77 | 6 | 19 |
| Laney College | 9,328 | 0.43 | 8 | 50 |
| Evergreen Valley College | 9,336 | 0.54 | 11 | 42 |
| Cabrillo College | 9,457 | 0.53 | 14 | 44 |
| Los Angeles Harbor College | 9,463 | 0.74 | 17 | 25 |
| College of San Mateo | 9,901 | 0.10 | 19 | 86 |
| Clovis Community College | 10,358 | 0.58 | 22 | 36 |
| Citrus College | 10,429 | 0.38 | 25 | 56 |
| Los Angeles Mission College | 10,690 | 0.47 | 28 | 47 |
| Merced College (this campus) | 12,472 | 0.32 | 64 | 58 |
Sample of 12 campuses from the plot (sorted by enrollment). Source: U.S. Department of Education OPE Campus Safety Survey + IPEDS enrollment. Rate = on-campus Criminal Offenses and VAWA incidents per 1,000 students; lower is safer-reporting, not a personal-risk forecast.
What changed between 2023 and 2024
Reported on-campus incidents at Merced College rose from 1 to 3 (+200%). The increase shows up in Burglary (1 to 3).
This describes reported incidents, not crime. Clery counts move with reporting policy, awareness campaigns and how a campus staffs its security authorities, so a rise can reflect better capture of reports and a fall can reflect worse capture. One year of movement at a single campus is not a trend.
What actually gets reported at Merced College
Across 3 reporting years, on-campus incidents were recorded in 2 Clery Act categories here: Burglary and Rape. Burglary accounts for most of them.
The remaining 9 categories were reported with no on-campus incidents, among them Aggravated Assault, Arson, Fondling and Incest. Under the Clery Act that zero is an affirmative report that nothing in the category occurred, not an absence of data, which is why the table below lists those rows rather than dropping them.
Counts describe incidents reported under the Clery Act for the on-campus geography. Reporting practice varies between institutions, so counts are not a direct measure of relative safety.
Crime Statistics by Year
11 categories 3 reporting years on-campus onlyMerced College: Criminal Offenses by year
Declining 25% (4 → 3 incidents)
Read the chart as text
| Period | On-campus incidents |
|---|---|
| 2022 | 4 |
| 2023 | 1 |
| 2024 | 3 |
| Crime Type | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Burglary | 3 | 1 | 3 |
| Rape | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Aggravated Assault | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Arson | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Fondling | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Incest | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Motor Vehicle Theft | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Murder / Non-Negligent Manslaughter | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Negligent Manslaughter | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Robbery | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Statutory Rape | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Source: US Dept of Education OPE Campus Safety Survey. Table figures show the Criminal Offenses section; other Clery tables are separate
Arrests & Disciplinary Actions
18 category-year records| Category | Year | Arrests | Discipline |
|---|---|---|---|
| Drugs | 2024 | 0 | 0 |
| Drugs | 2024 | 0 | 0 |
| Liquor | 2024 | 0 | 0 |
| Liquor | 2024 | 0 | 0 |
| Weapons | 2024 | 0 | 0 |
| Weapons | 2024 | 0 | 0 |
| Drugs | 2023 | 0 | 0 |
| Drugs | 2023 | 0 | 0 |
| Liquor | 2023 | 0 | 0 |
| Liquor | 2023 | 0 | 0 |
| Weapons | 2023 | 0 | 0 |
| Weapons | 2023 | 0 | 0 |
| Drugs | 2022 | 0 | 0 |
| Drugs | 2022 | 0 | 0 |
| Liquor | 2022 | 0 | 0 |
| Liquor | 2022 | 0 | 0 |
| Weapons | 2022 | 0 | 0 |
| Weapons | 2022 | 0 | 0 |
Merced College vs peer institutions
Side-by-side safety scores for 3 peers of similar enrollment
Scores are $2024 Criminal Offenses and VAWA incidents per 1,000 enrolled students (lower is fewer in those categories).
OH
Case Western Reserve University
4.57 incidents / 1,000 students
MI
Grand Rapids Community College
0.72 incidents / 1,000 students
Cost context
Where Merced College sits on price and outcomes
At $5,040, Merced College's reported average net price is cheaper than 7% among 492 California colleges with a reported figure. The state median is $20,161.
- $5,040
- average net price
- $20,161
- California median
- $6,747
- reported income-bracket spread
Aid here is steeply income-scaled. Families reporting under $30,000 of income record a net price of $4,155, while those above $110,000 record $10,902 - roughly 2.6 times as much. A published average of $5,040 therefore describes very few families well; the bracket nearest your own income is the more useful figure.
Six years after enrolling, the median former student who received federal aid reports $31,468 - about 6.2 times one year of the reported net price here. On that ratio the cost is recovered quickly. Only 32% complete within six years. Most students here do not finish, which is the single most important number on this page for anyone weighing the cost.
Average net price reflects grant and scholarship aid for aided students, not a personal offer. Earnings cover former students who received federal aid; neither measure predicts an individual's outcome.
Academic & Financial Profile
Tuition & Costs
- In-State Tuition
- $1,200
- Out-of-State Tuition
- $8,520
- Avg Net Price
- $5,040
- Pell Grant Recipients
- 38%
Outcomes
- Median Earnings (6yr)
- $31,468
- Median Earnings (10yr)
- $37,815
Source: IPEDS & College Scorecard. Methodology.
Similar Institutions
Showing 5 of 685 similar institutions by enrollment size.
Case Western Reserve University
Cleveland, OH · 12,475 enrolled
Safety Score 4.57
Grand Rapids Community College
Grand Rapids, MI · 12,468 enrolled
Safety Score 0.72
Bellevue College
Bellevue, WA · 12,485 enrolled
Safety Score 1.28
Tallahassee State College
Tallahassee, FL · 12,455 enrolled
Safety Score 0.08
Los Angeles Trade Technical College
Los Angeles, CA · 12,519 enrolled
Safety Score 1.36
Closest by National Rank
Merced College (national rank #203) sits near Houston Community College (#202) and Inter American University of Puerto Rico-San German (#204) on the scored national list, nearest by rank, not by size or state.
Houston Community College
Houston, TX
National Rank #202
Inter American University of Puerto Rico-San German
San German, PR
National Rank #204
Golden Gate University
San Francisco, CA
National Rank #205
Front Range Community College
Westminster, CO
National Rank #201
University of Montevallo
Montevallo, AL
National Rank #206
Nationwide campuses with similar scale or Clery rate
Two Clery-derived peer sets for Merced College, both outside CA so the neighborhoods are not state containment (Similar Institutions and national-rank neighbors above stay enrollment- or rank-based).
Similar enrollment (nationwide)
Grand Rapids Community College
Grand Rapids, MI · 12,468 enrolled
Safety score 0.72
College of Lake County
Grayslake, IL · 12,530 enrolled
Safety score 0.56
Palo Alto College
San Antonio, TX · 12,395 enrolled
Safety score 0.40
Harrisburg Area Community College
Harrisburg, PA · 12,585 enrolled
Safety score 0.08
Nassau Community College
Garden City, NY · 12,301 enrolled
Safety score 0.81
Community College of Rhode Island
Warwick, RI · 12,275 enrolled
Safety score 0.16
Delgado Community College
New Orleans, LA · 12,712 enrolled
Safety score 0.08
Kirkwood Community College
Cedar Rapids, IA · 12,763 enrolled
Safety score 0.39
Similar 2024 Clery rate (nationwide)
Mid-State Technical College
Wisconsin Rapids, WI · 3,144 enrolled
Safety score 0.32
Amarillo College
Amarillo, TX · 9,262 enrolled
Safety score 0.32
Kalamazoo Valley Community College
Kalamazoo, MI · 6,334 enrolled
Safety score 0.32
Wichita State University-Campus of Applied Sciences and Technology
Wichita, KS · 6,106 enrolled
Safety score 0.33
Northeast Alabama Community College
Rainsville, AL · 3,208 enrolled
Safety score 0.31
George C Wallace State Community College-Hanceville
Hanceville, AL · 6,424 enrolled
Safety score 0.31
John A Logan College
Carterville, IL · 3,224 enrolled
Safety score 0.31
Pima Community College
Tucson, AZ · 16,283 enrolled
Safety score 0.31
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Merced College safe?
Merced College has a safety score of 0.32 (2024 on-campus Criminal Offenses and VAWA incidents per 1,000 enrolled students) and ranks #203 nationally out of 2,072 ranked institutions - nearest similar-enrollment comparison: Case Western Reserve University (4.57/1k). Same-state same-level set: Los Angeles Trade Technical College (1.36/1k); Santa Barbara City College (0.57/1k); Ventura College (0.25/1k); Chabot College (1.09/1k); College of the Desert (0.31/1k); Glendale Community College (0.91/1k); Irvine Valley College (0.23/1k); Moreno Valley College (0.17/1k).
What crimes are reported at Merced College?
For calendar year 2024, Merced College reported Burglary (3) in the Criminal Offenses section. Every other category in that section was reported at zero; other Clery tables are separate.
How does Merced College compare to similar schools?
Merced College reports 80% fewer 2024 score-category incidents per 1,000 than Case Western Reserve University. Scored similar-enrollment peers on this page: Case Western Reserve University (4.57/1k); Grand Rapids Community College (0.72/1k); Bellevue College (1.28/1k); Tallahassee State College (0.08/1k); Los Angeles Trade Technical College (1.36/1k). Same-state same-level set: Los Angeles Trade Technical College (1.36/1k); Santa Barbara City College (0.57/1k); Ventura College (0.25/1k); Chabot College (1.09/1k); College of the Desert (0.31/1k); Glendale Community College (0.91/1k); Irvine Valley College (0.23/1k); Moreno Valley College (0.17/1k).
Does Merced College have fire safety data?
Merced College has no on-campus residential fire filing in this Clery release.
Every figure on PlainCampus is rendered directly from federal Clery Act source data, no number is typed in by an editor. This page draws directly on federal Clery Act source data, no figure is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error.
PlainCampus is for informational purposes only and does not constitute safety, security, legal, or enrollment advice; the data describes reported on-campus activity, it is not a complete picture of safety at any campus and cannot predict any individual student's experience. See our appropriate use guidance.
PlainCampus is for informational purposes only and does not constitute safety, security, legal, or enrollment advice.