More than 1,200 faculty members from the University of California have signed an open letter, urging university leadership to reinstate SAT and ACT math testing requirements for applicants to math and science majors, beginning with the 2027 admissions cycle.
Many leftists argue that standardized tests like the SAT and ACT perpetuate so-called systemic racism and widen racial disparities in education. They have pushed to abolish these “racist” tests in the name of equity. This effort gained momentum in 2020 amid COVID-19 lockdowns and the national racial hatred efforts following George Floyd’s death.
Consequently, more than 1,000 colleges and universities across the United States eliminated or made SAT and ACT college testing requirements optional, with the University of California system at the forefront. However, it is crucial to recognize that the real causes of racial disparities in test scores do not lie with the tests. For leftists, however, it is much easier to scapegoat standardized testing than deal with the real problem — parents abandoning their duties and the broken K-12 public school system.
The UC decision stands out because its regents unanimously approved President Janet Napolitano’s recommendation to suspend standardized test scores in college admissions. What began as a temporary suspension through 2024 became a permanent test-blind policy.
This went against the findings of UC’s own faculty task force, which reported in 2020 that SAT and ACT scores were better predictors of college success (especially for non-white and low-income students) than high school GPAs alone, particularly amid widespread and continually expanding grade inflation. The task force recommended the college continue to use these standardized tests while working on improved alternatives. Reality soon validated the faculty task force. In 2022, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology became the first elite institution to reinstate the SAT/ACT requirement. Dean of Admissions Stu Schmill explained that standardized testing “significantly improved” the ability to predict academic success at MIT, particularly in mathematics. He emphasized that requiring test scores is “more equitable and transparent than a test-optional policy,” as it helps to identify academically prepared students from disadvantaged backgrounds who otherwise may not have access to advanced coursework or enriching programs.
Following MIT’s example, several prestigious colleges, including Yale, Harvard, and Dartmouth, reinstated standardized testing requirements for admissions, reaffirming the importance of these exams in promoting academic excellence.
California doubled down in the opposite direction. Alongside test-blind admissions, the state embraced the controversial California Mathematics Framework (CMF), another leftist idea that dumbs down math education by delaying Algebra I until ninth grade. This framework also promotes less rigorous “data science” pathways for high schoolers.
More than 700 educators, engineers, and scientists, including several Nobel laureates, voiced their concerns in an open letter, arguing the CMF will widen achievement gaps. Wealthier families can afford to supplement their children’s education with private tutoring or early algebra, leaving disadvantaged students further behind and limiting their access to advanced high school courses, college majors, and promising careers in math and science.
The combined effects of watered down math education and test-blind college admissions have been stark. A 2025 UC San Diego report documented a crisis: between 2020 and 2025, the number of incoming students with math skills below high-school level surged nearly thirtyfold. Roughly 70 percent of these students had math skills below middle school levels.
In late May 2026, UC mathematics and other science professors issued an open letter, declaring: “Basic mathematical fluency is analogous to literacy; without it, success in university-level STEM becomes structurally unattainable.” They highlighted instructors reteaching middle school material and warned that widening preparation gaps polarize classrooms and undermine advanced instruction. The disadvantaged students leftists claim to champion are suffering the most, threatening California’s future workforce and innovation.
More than 1,250 UC faculty members have now signed the letter, signaling a significant consensus on this issue. In a recent Wall Street Journal op-ed, UC Berkeley mathematicians Svetlana Jitomirskaya and Zvezdelina Stankova acknowledge the dangers of admissions offices falling prey to “ideological capture,” and urge an immediate return to honest evaluation processes.
The question now is whether UC leadership will act on this failure. The UC Academic Senate’s Board of Admissions and Relations with Schools is set to discuss these issues on June 5, but real change requires more than discussion.
Accountability in public institutions, such as the University of California, goes beyond simply issuing statements or forming another committee. It requires leaders to confront evidence of policy failures, make timely corrections, and take responsibility for the consequences students face.
UC leadership must publicly acknowledge that its test-blind admissions policy, implemented against faculty recommendations, has contributed to a decline in student preparedness. They should immediately reinstate objective standardized testing for STEM admissions. Additionally, it should undertake a transparent review of how equity ideology overshadowed empirical evidence in 2020, ensuring similar overrides do not happen again.
When failures are this severe, true accountability includes consequences for leadership. The current UC leadership, including President James Milliken and the Board of Regents, has inherited this policy. They now face a clear choice: reverse course based on the data or continue owning the consequences.
If they ignore the faculty letter and SAWG report, the public should demand resignations. Leaders who persist with failed ideological experiments while students fall behind lose credibility to guide California’s premier public university system. Other institutions still clinging to test-blind or test-optional policies should take note and reverse course before more students — and the citizens who may rely on their services — pay the price.
