While other UC’s turn away tens of thousands of qualified students annually, UC Merced faces the opposite challenge. The campus struggles to find students willing to accept its location, surrounded by farmland and pastures where cows often graze.But some students are attracted to the small student population, the accessible rent prices and the research opportunities.Guests:Brian Arroyo, fourth-year mechanical engineering major, UC MercedMichael Burke, reporter, EdSourceRead more from EdSource:How UC Merced is trying to attract students after years of slow growthAs enrollment flattens at most University of California campuses, it surges at RiversideEducation Beat is a weekly podcast hosted by EdSource’s Zaidee Stavely and produced by Coby McDonald.Subscribe: Apple, Spotify, SoundCloud, YouTube