UC debates bringing back SAT and ACT for STEM applicants

UC’s Academic Senate said in June that a faculty work group will examine whether SAT or ACT scores should return to freshman admissions, including the possibility of using 11th-grade Smarter Balanced scores. The move followed a faculty push led by mathematicians at UC Berkeley, where more than 600 professors signed a letter in May 2026 urging standardized testing for STEM applicants; later versions of the petition climbed above 800 signatures and then 1,450 on an open letter.

The debate comes four years after the University of California eliminated its standardized test requirement in 2020. The UC Board of Regents had originally suspended SAT and ACT use through fall 2024, and UC admissions pages now say the system no longer considers those scores in admissions decisions or for scholarships. Submitted scores can still be used for alternate eligibility or placement after students enroll.

Supporters of bringing the tests back say the current system is sending too many students into courses they are not ready to take. Faculty involved in the campaign have described first-year classes that effectively have to cover middle-school algebra before moving on to college-level material. Their argument has gained force as UC research has pointed to intensifying grade inflation, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic, and to an admissions pool crowded with students posting very high GPAs.

UC’s own admissions outcomes analysis has also shown that removing standardized testing did not significantly change admissions outcomes by high school GPA, a finding that has sharpened the question of whether grades alone give campuses enough signal when many applicants look similarly strong on paper. That is the gap some faculty want a new benchmark to fill.

Opponents warn that any return to SAT or ACT scores would reopen a system that advantages students from wealthier families, while potentially narrowing access for low-income, Black and Latino students. California’s other major public systems have already moved in the same direction away from testing: California State University and the California Community Colleges Chancellor’s Office reduced or eliminated test use for admissions and placement, while the Public Policy Institute of California has noted that the state’s College and Career Indicator uses Smarter Balanced scores and completion of A-G courses as readiness measures.

The new UC review will decide whether the system can build a fresh admissions test, rely on an outside exam, or keep leaning on grades and coursework alone. For now, the dispute turns on a basic tradeoff: wider access at the front end, or a stronger academic signal before students reach math and science sequences that can shape everything that follows.