In recent weeks, teachers from the University of California (UC) across various disciplines, including STEM and humanities and social sciences, have sent two open letters urging UC to reinstate standardized testing. As of July 17, over 3,000 teachers have signed the joint letters. Under mounting pressure, the UC President’s Office responded in mid-last month that they would consider the issue, and last week issued a statement requesting an expedited review of relevant reports.
According to the timetable released on the 22nd, the UC Admissions and Relations with Schools Committee will submit preliminary recommendations on standardized testing (SAT/ACT exams) to the Academic Senate on February 12 next year, four months ahead of the previous schedule. This review will not affect the admission requirements for the fall of 2027.
In 2019, several student groups sued UC, arguing that standardized tests could not predict academic success and demanded their elimination. The lawsuit was settled with a compromise from the university, with UC paying $1.25 million in litigation fees and suspending SAT/ACT exams during the trial period.
The teachers outlined a series of issues that have arisen since the cancellation of tests six years ago in their two open letters.
**STEM Field Joint Letter**
Since its release on June 5, over 2,300 people have signed, including five Nobel laureates, seven out of nine math department chairs at UC, and an additional 73 department chairs in STEM fields.
Citing a report from the UC San Diego (UCSD) admissions working group, teachers highlighted that in the past five years, the number of incoming freshmen with math skills below high school level has increased nearly 30-fold. 70% of these students even exhibit math skills below middle school level, accounting for 1/12 of all new students.
At UC Berkeley, during the first semester calculus students’ participation in the Math Diagnostic Test (MDT) over three consecutive years, 20-30% of students consistently showed severe lack of preparedness.
With a significant deficiency in foundational math skills among students, teachers are forced to reteach middle school math when teaching courses in fields such as science, engineering, and economics that require strong quantitative abilities.
However, due to limitations in teaching resources, universities can only assist a limited number of students. Additionally, the widening gap among students in the same classroom leads to a polarization of courses; the large number of students lacking math skills makes it impossible for teachers to engage in higher-level STEM course instruction.
The letter pointed out that if these problems are not addressed, it will lead to a decline in university graduation rates, an extension of time needed to obtain degrees, a reduced completion rate of STEM majors, ultimately impacting California’s high-skilled STEM workforce.
The California public higher education system includes community colleges, state universities, and the UC system, which matches teaching resources tailored to students’ preparedness levels. The open letter pointed out that the current admission system disrupts this structure, directly admitting students to UC’s STEM programs without reliably assessing whether students are adequately prepared for success.
Less than a week after the release of the STEM field joint letter, teachers from fields such as social sciences, humanities, arts, business, law, education, and more jointly published an open letter supporting the cause. Over 900 individuals have signed the letter to date.
The open letter calls for taking into account the SAT/ACT reading and writing sections in undergraduate admissions review. The rationale behind this is that students lacking basic reading and writing skills will face difficulties across various subjects; omitting the evaluation of reading and writing skills poses a significant obstacle to underprepared students and their instructors.
The letter highlights that SAT math scores can predict performance in social sciences courses and to some extent in humanities courses as well. Many social science and applied fields and some humanities disciplines rely on statistics and quantitative reasoning. The lack of a solid algebra foundation not only makes learning statistics difficult but also affects learning outcomes in other fields.
Teachers anticipate that if UC does not change its admission policies for the 2026-27 academic year, underprepared students will continue to struggle academically for at least three to four years. Meanwhile, qualified students with high potential may be displaced from the UC system, transferring to other public schools, out-of-state institutions, or private schools.
Therefore, teachers urge the UC Academic Senate and Board to abandon the failed experiment of the last six years and include both the SAT/ACT math and language reasoning sections in the scope of undergraduate admissions assessments.