Thousands of students heading back to school at UC Merced

MERCED, Calif. (KFSN) -- Thousands of students are heading back to school at UC Merced on Wednesday.

There are 2,400 incoming students this year, that's the largest class in the school's 14-year history.

Some exciting changes are coming for those students.

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They will have access to two brand new buildings, the Sustainability Research and Engineering (SRE) and Arts and Computational Sciences (ACS) buildings.

The SRE houses the first Center of Excellence on campus and the Office of Sustainability. The ACS includes a 299 seat auditorium, recording studio and dance studio.

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Also new this year is the Bobcat Compass, a year-long program that replaces the two-week welcome for new students. Under the program, students will have access to departments across campus and the community that encourage relationship building and learning both in and out of the classroom.

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