As the new century dawns, the store of human knowledge is doubling every five years. Wondrous technologies lessen the importance of geography. The economic imperative among the industrialized nations is innovate, innovate, innovate. Research and innovation have become acknowledged prime creators of wealth in the developed nations. The already fierce competition among the industrialized nations to develop new knowledge daily becomes more intense.
Research universities are key performers in the United States' efforts to remain paramount.
The UC Merced campus is expected to open as the university's 10th campus in 2005 with a combined enrollment of 1,000 undergraduate and graduate students. The campus is expected to grow by about 800 full-time students each year. The main campus, with vistas of the Sierra Nevada, will be part of an 11,000-acre planned community northeast of the city of Merced. The University intends to make UC Merced a full research university with strong engineering and science programs. The San Joaquin Valley is the only major region of substantial population in California without a UC campus.