UC Rethinks SAT/ACT Ban After Faculty Warn of Math Gaps

The University of California system has launched a comprehensive review of its admissions policies following a faculty revolt over declining academic preparedness. More than 1,400 UC faculty members signed an open letter warning that the elimination of standardized testing requirements has led to “severe preparation gaps” in incoming students, forcing professors to reteach middle-school mathematics in university classrooms.

On June 11, 2026, UC Academic Senate Chair Ahmet Palazoglu announced a formal review process that will run through the 2026-27 academic year, with two faculty-led workgroups examining whether to reinstate SAT, ACT, or 11th-grade Smarter Balanced Assessment scores and whether current A-G course requirements adequately prepare students for college-level work.

The Scope of the Problem

The faculty’s concerns are backed by stark internal data. A report from UC San Diego’s Senate-Administration Working Group on Admissions (SAWG) found that the number of incoming first-year students whose math skills tested below high school level jumped from roughly 1 in 200 students in 2020 to nearly 1 in 8 students over a five-year period — a nearly thirtyfold increase. Even more alarming, 70% of those underprepared students fell below middle school proficiency, accounting for roughly 1 in 12 members of the entire entering cohort.

According to Fox News, the faculty open letter — which includes signatures from seven of UC’s nine mathematics department chairs — warned that “preparation gaps so severe that instructors must re-teach middle school mathematics while simultaneously teaching the material students need for sciences, engineering, economics and other quantitatively demanding fields.”

UC Berkeley data corroborates the trend: for three consecutive years, 20-30% of first-semester calculus students who participated in mathematical diagnostic testing displayed severe preparation deficits.

A Formal Review Process

Palazoglu’s announcement establishes two faculty-led workgroups under the Board of Admissions and Relations with Schools (BOARS). One group will evaluate the potential reinstatement of standardized test scores — including the SAT, ACT, or 11th-grade Smarter Balanced Assessment — in the admissions process. The second will examine whether the A-G course requirements that high school students must complete to qualify for UC admission adequately prepare students for college success.

As KPBS reported, both workgroups will include representatives from the UC system, the California State University system, the California Board of Education, and K-12 schools. They are expected to submit final reports by May 15, 2027, after which recommendations will be reviewed by the Academic Senate before being sent to the UC president and the Board of Regents for a vote.

UC President James Milliken issued a statement supporting the review, calling it “comprehensive, data-driven” and emphasizing that “there are few things more important on our agenda.” The University of California confirmed that the Board of Regents will receive an initial update in July 2026.

National Context: The Test-Back-On Movement

The UC review aligns with a broader national trend. During the COVID-19 pandemic, over 1,000 colleges made standardized tests optional. However, a growing number of elite institutions have since reinstated testing requirements after data showed that test scores remain a reliable predictor of college success. Institutions that have reinstated testing include MIT, Yale, Dartmouth, Brown, Harvard, Stanford, the University of Texas at Austin, the University of Pennsylvania, Cornell, and Caltech.

According to the San Francisco Chronicle, the faculty letter argued that “the SAT/ACT mathematics requirement is not an obstacle to equity; rather, it is a prerequisite for it. Failing to measure preparation gaps does not remove barriers; it moves them into the classroom, where they become harder to overcome.”

The Equity Debate

The central tension in this debate is between academic readiness and equitable access. Critics of standardized testing, including UC Berkeley Law Professor Jonathan Glater, argue that SAT scores “closely track family income” and that reinstating them would favor students from wealthier families who can afford test preparation services.

Karajean Hyde, co-director of the UC Irvine Math Project, offered a middle-ground perspective, telling Fox News Digital that “we need some objective measures to go along with the whole picture. A student’s not just a single number or a single letter, but standardized testing can play an important role in ensuring one level of measuring where that bar is so that the bar doesn’t move.”

Timeline and Outlook

The review process means no policy changes are imminent. The workgroups will submit final reports by May 15, 2027, followed by Academic Senate review, stakeholder input, and a vote by the Board of Regents. The earliest any changes could take effect is fall 2028, though some sources suggest fall 2029 is more realistic.

UC Berkeley Math Professor Zvezdelina Stankova, an early signer of the open letter, expressed concern that the timeline may be too slow, stating that the process “initiates a new round of studies and discussions that will take considerable time and are unlikely to reach conclusions soon enough to affect entering freshmen in fall 2028.”

Meanwhile, California’s underlying K-12 math challenges persist. Data from the 2024-25 school year shows only slightly more than 30% of California high school juniors met or exceeded math standards on Smarter Balanced assessments. Governor Gavin Newsom included $60 million in the May Revision of the state budget to expand a grant program for math teaching, coaching, and leadership at the school level.

As the Sacramento Bee via AOL noted, the faculty letter warned that left unaddressed, these trends “will lead to declining graduation rates, longer time to degree, and reduced completion of STEM majors, with consequences for California’s highly skilled STEM workforce.”

The July 2026 Board of Regents update will be a key milestone to watch as the nation’s largest public university system navigates the complex intersection of academic standards, equity, and workforce preparation.