Berkeley, CA – A growing number of University of California (UC) faculty are advocating for the reinstatement of standardized tests like the SAT, citing a significant increase in students unprepared for college-level coursework. This push comes as faculty, including those at UC Berkeley, express concerns over academic readiness following the system's move to test-blind admissions. "The University of California needs the SAT back. Even the overwhelmingly liberal Berkeley faculty are fed up with the admission of unprepared students," stated an opinion piece from The Wall Street Journal, co-authored by Svetlana Jitomirskaya and Zvezdelina Stankova.
The University of California system initially suspended SAT/ACT requirements in May 2020, with a subsequent legal settlement in 2021 solidifying a test-free policy through at least Spring 2025. This decision aimed to address concerns about equity and potential biases in standardized testing, making UC campuses test-blind for admissions decisions. However, the policy's impact on student preparedness has become a central point of contention among educators.
A November 2025 report from the UC San Diego Senate-Administration Workgroup on Admissions revealed a nearly 30-fold increase in students entering the university system with math skills below high school level. This alarming statistic underscores the faculty's argument that current admissions criteria, heavily reliant on GPA, are insufficient to accurately gauge academic readiness. Professors note that grade inflation and the advent of AI-assisted application essays further complicate the assessment of applicants' true capabilities.
More than 600 UC faculty members, particularly mathematicians at UC Berkeley, have signed an open letter urging the UC Board of Regents to mandate SAT/ACT math scores for STEM applicants starting with the 2027 admissions cycle. They argue that standardized tests provide a crucial, consistent measure of basic readiness that high school grades alone cannot offer. This internal pressure within the UC system mirrors a broader national trend, with institutions like Harvard, Brown, Dartmouth, Stanford, and Caltech having already restored standardized testing requirements in 2024 or 2025.
The UC Academic Senate's Board of Admissions and Relations with Schools (BOARS) is actively discussing potential system-wide admissions changes. While the university system initially moved away from standardized tests to promote diversity and access, faculty now contend that the lack of such measures is inadvertently setting some students up for failure. The ongoing debate highlights the complex challenge of balancing equitable access with ensuring students are adequately prepared for rigorous university academics.
