The confusion comes at a time when a growing chorus of faculty members and media commentators are pushing the UC system to bring back the SAT as part of its admissions process. The Board of Regents eliminated the testing requirement in 2020, overruling a recommendation from the UC Academic Senate that the university continue relying on the SAT and ACT. That vote was unanimous.

The latest wrinkle emerged last month, when the Academic Senate announced it would launch a review of standardized admissions tests along with the high school coursework students must complete to meet minimum UC eligibility requirements. Then, on Monday afternoon, several news outlets reported that a Senate committee overseeing admissions had decided to scrap that review altogether.

But two senior UC officials say a fresh look at the role of standardized testing in admissions remains very much on the table. One of them is Ahmet Palazoglu, chair of the Academic Senate.

“The Academic Senate is not walking back its commitment to conducting a comprehensive review of standardized testing in the admissions process,” Palazoglu wrote in a statement posted Monday night on the UC Office of the President’s website. He said the Senate is simply adjusting its original timeline for completing the broader admissions review.

At a Board of Regents meeting Tuesday, the board’s new chair, Maria Anguiano, said the Academic Senate will wrap up its review “no later than the end of this academic year” — meaning around June 2027.

That actually moves the timeline up. A Senate document released last month had indicated the panel’s final report and recommendation to the board would come sometime in fall 2027.

Palazoglu clarified in an email Tuesday that the June deadline applies specifically to the standardized testing question. The Academic Senate is scheduled to meet July 22 to determine a separate approach for reviewing the high school coursework requirements students must satisfy to be eligible for UC admission.

While the Academic Senate wields considerable influence within the UC system, it cannot unilaterally reinstate the SAT for undergraduate admissions. Only the Board of Regents has that authority. Under standard procedure, the board must first hear at least one informational item on the topic before voting on any policy change at a later meeting.

Students push back against SAT’s return

The University of California Student Association sent a letter to the Board of Regents this week opposing any reinstatement of the SAT. The association, which represents roughly 237,000 UC undergraduates, said it does not believe bringing back the SAT or ACT would lead to better-prepared students. The letter pointed out that racial and ethnic diversity across the UC system has grown since 2020, even as graduation rates have held steady or improved.

“The purpose of public education is to ensure that all students can access their right to a strong, quality learning experience, and UC should not be limiting the number of students who can enter its classrooms,” the students wrote.

Back in 2020, students were among those urging the Board of Regents to drop standardized testing from admissions. The board reaffirmed its ban on admissions testing in 2021.

At Tuesday’s meeting, Anguiano signaled some unease with how much attention the testing debate has commanded. “In my view, recent public conversations have focused too heavily on admissions and standardized testing,” she said.

Why some faculty want the SAT back

More than 2,000 UC faculty members in science, technology, engineering and math fields have signed a petition calling on the university to reinstate the SAT or ACT as an admissions requirement for STEM majors starting in fall 2027. Nearly 1,000 additional faculty members from other disciplines signed a separate letter calling for the full restoration of standardized testing across all admissions.

The STEM faculty petition argues that high school grades alone are not a reliable measure of college readiness, pointing to rising grade inflation and growing numbers of students relying on artificial intelligence to complete coursework. As a result, some students arrive at UC unprepared for the rigor of its academic programs, the petition contends.

Mina Aganagic, a physics and mathematics professor at UC Berkeley, spoke in favor of bringing back the SAT during Tuesday’s meeting. “Without the SAT, our introductory courses are forced to re-teach material from elementary and middle school. That wastes opportunity and misallocates resources instead of expanding access to higher education,” she said.

But the head of an influential nonprofit that advocates for greater access to the UC system said focusing on the SAT is the wrong approach.

“This is absolutely the wrong solution for an undefined problem,” said Jessie Ryan, president of the Campaign for College Opportunity. “Based on the UC Office of the President’s own research, we know that since the testing requirement was dropped, our retention rates have remained stable and graduation rates have actually gone up.”

She added: “If we truly want to address college readiness, the answer isn’t to become more selective — it’s to provide more support to students throughout the state. We need to work with our K-12 partners to improve preparation, rather than shutting the door on thousands of students.”

Critics of the SAT have long argued the test disadvantages low-income students, who are less likely to afford test-prep services that can boost scores.

Standardized tests were historically just one piece of the puzzle UC campuses used to evaluate applicants. Other factors considered include the rigor of a student’s course load, how that course load compares with peers at the same high school, special talents or achievements, and the location of the applicant’s school.

Original source: CalMatters

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The clarification comes amid mounting pressure from faculty members and commentators who want the UC to bring back standardized testing requirements that the Board of Regents eliminated in 2020. That decision, approved unanimously by the regents, went against a recommendation from the UC Academic Senate, which had favored keeping the SAT and ACT as part of the admissions process at the time.

Confusion over the university’s plans surfaced last month after the Academic Senate announced it would review both standardized testing and the high school coursework requirements used to determine UC eligibility. Then, on Monday, several media outlets reported that a senate committee overseeing admissions policy had abandoned that review altogether.

UC officials pushed back on that characterization. Ahmet Palazoglu, chair of the Academic Senate, issued a statement Monday night through the UC Office of the President insisting the review remains active.

“The Academic Senate is not rescinding its commitment to a comprehensive review of standardized testing in admissions,” Palazoglu wrote, adding that the faculty body is simply adjusting its original schedule for completing the broader admissions study.

At a Board of Regents meeting Tuesday, newly appointed board chair Maria Anguiano said the Academic Senate now intends to wrap up its testing review by the end of the current academic year — around June 2027. That’s earlier than the fall 2027 target laid out in a senate document circulated last month.

Palazoglu later clarified in an email that the accelerated June deadline applies specifically to the standardized testing question. A separate discussion about how to review high school course requirements for UC eligibility is scheduled for a senate meeting July 22.

Even with a completed review, the Academic Senate cannot single-handedly restore the SAT to UC admissions. That authority rests solely with the Board of Regents, which must first consider an informational presentation before voting on any policy change at a later meeting.

Students renew opposition

The University of California Student Association, which represents roughly 237,000 undergraduates across the system, sent regents a letter this week reiterating its opposition to reviving standardized testing requirements. The organization argued there’s no evidence the SAT or ACT would produce better-prepared students, noting that racial and ethnic diversity on UC campuses grew after the 2020 policy change without any corresponding drop in graduation rates.

“The role of public education is to ensure all students can access their right to a robust, quality learning experience, and the UC must not limit the number of students able to enter its halls,” the students wrote.

This isn’t the first time students have weighed in. It was student advocacy in 2020 that helped convince regents to drop the testing requirement, and the board reaffirmed that stance in 2021.

Anguiano appeared to signal some frustration with how the debate has unfolded publicly. “Recent public conversations have focused on admissions and standardized testing, too narrowly, in my opinion,” she told fellow regents Tuesday.

Faculty push for reinstatement

More than 2,000 UC faculty members in STEM fields have signed a petition calling for the SAT or ACT to become mandatory again for students applying to science, technology, engineering and math programs, with a proposed start date of fall 2027. Separately, nearly 1,000 professors from other academic disciplines signed a letter urging a full return to standardized testing for all applicants.

The STEM faculty petition contends that high school transcripts alone don’t reliably indicate whether a student is ready for college-level coursework, citing grade inflation and the rise of artificial intelligence tools that some students use to complete assignments. Supporters argue this leaves some incoming students unprepared for the academic demands of a UC education.

Mina Aganagic, a physics and mathematics professor at UC Berkeley, told regents Tuesday that dropping the SAT has created real classroom challenges. “Without the SAT, our introductory courses are forced to reteach elementary and middle school material. This wastes opportunities, misallocating resources rather than increasing access,” she said.

But not everyone agrees the SAT is the answer. Jessie Ryan, president of the Campaign for College Opportunity, a nonprofit focused on expanding access to higher education, said reviving the test would address the wrong problem.

“This is absolutely the wrong solution to an undefined problem,” Ryan said. “What we know, based on the UC Office of the President’s own research, is that since going to test-free admissions, our retention rates have remained stable and graduation rates have also increased.”

Ryan argued that if the university wants to improve student preparation, it should focus on strengthening support systems and partnerships with K-12 schools rather than raising barriers to entry. “We should be looking not at becoming more selective, but being more supportive to students across the state,” she said. “Working with our K-12 partners to improve preparation, not slamming the door on thousands of students.”

Opponents of reinstating the SAT have long argued the exam disadvantages low-income students, who often lack access to costly test-preparation resources that can boost scores.

Even when standardized tests were part of UC admissions, they were only one factor among many. Campuses also weighed the rigor of a student’s coursework relative to peers at the same high school, extracurricular achievements and special talents, and the socioeconomic and geographic context of an applicant’s background.

Original source: CalMatters

The post UC to Reassess SAT and ACT Admissions Policy by June 2027 appeared first on The Hemet & San Jacinto Chronicle.

According to Kaplan, the debate has largely been framed as a tug-of-war between fairness and merit. Those who favor requiring the SAT contend that standardized testing offers a reliable, objective gauge of academic readiness. Critics counter that the exam puts students from lower-income and historically underrepresented communities at a disadvantage. Kaplan believes both camps have legitimate points — but he argues they’re focused on the wrong issue entirely.

The real reason universities keep circling back to the SAT, he says, is that almost every other piece of the admissions puzzle has lost its usefulness as a way to tell applicants apart. Decades ago, a perfect grade point average meant something rare — often signaling the top student in a graduating class. Now, thanks to grade inflation and the spread of weighted grading systems, near-perfect GPAs are common among applicants to the nation’s top universities.

Letters of recommendation have followed a similar path, rarely including any hint of criticism, which leaves admissions officers hunting for small details to differentiate between candidates who all look outstanding on paper. Personal essays, once a window into an applicant’s voice and character, have also lost credibility. With artificial intelligence tools capable of producing polished writing instantly — and with many students receiving extensive help from teachers, counselors or paid consultants — it’s increasingly difficult to know whose words are truly their own.

The end result, Kaplan writes, is an applicant pool where virtually everyone looks exceptional.

Grade inflation doesn’t stop once students get to campus, either. During the 2024-25 academic year, 84% of the grades awarded at Harvard were A’s or A-minuses, compared to just 24% two decades earlier. Reports suggest the same pattern has taken hold at other elite institutions, including UC Berkeley. When nearly every student earns top marks, those grades stop carrying much meaning.

That’s part of why the SAT has retained outsized influence in the admissions process — it remains one of the few tools that still produces a clear range of results. Supporters of the exam point out that it predicts college performance fairly consistently across different racial and ethnic groups, and argue that makes it an unbiased measure. But Kaplan says that argument sidesteps a bigger concern: average SAT scores vary significantly by race, ethnicity and income level, largely because of unequal access to strong schools, family resources and parental education. Giving the test more weight in admissions decisions, he warns, will inevitably reshape who gets in — and not necessarily for the better.

That concern carries extra weight for public universities like the UC system, especially now that political pressure and Supreme Court rulings have curtailed efforts to promote diversity on campus. Kaplan notes that Californians across the income spectrum help fund the UC system through their taxes, and an admissions process that increasingly rewards students with the most educational advantages threatens to undercut the university’s role as an engine of opportunity and upward mobility.

Beyond questions of access, Kaplan argues there’s an educational cost to losing diversity on campus. Students benefit from studying alongside classmates with different backgrounds, cultures and life experiences — exposure that sharpens critical thinking and helps prepare future leaders for an increasingly diverse workforce and society.

Rather than simply reinstating or permanently abandoning the SAT, Kaplan suggests the UC system needs to repair the credibility of the rest of its admissions process. That means confronting grade inflation head-on, pushing for more honest recommendation letters, rethinking how written work is evaluated in an era of AI-assisted writing, and developing better tools to measure traits like creativity, resilience and intellectual curiosity.

He also points to a deeper structural issue: California’s educational pipeline. A recent report from UC San Diego found that a significant number of incoming students are not adequately prepared for college-level math. Making the SAT more central to admissions decisions won’t fix that gap, Kaplan argues. The real fix lies in improving math instruction in high schools and better aligning it with what students need to succeed once they arrive on campus.

Ultimately, Kaplan frames the regents’ upcoming decision as being about far more than whether to bring back a single standardized test. The bigger task, he says, is building an admissions system where no single measure — the SAT included — carries more weight than it truly deserves.

Original source: CalMatters

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