UC Faculty Push for SAT Return as STEM Math Proficiency Hits ‘Critical’ Low
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A Crisis in the Calculus Classroom
For nearly 30 years, Zvezda Stankova has taught mathematics at UC Berkeley, but the spring 2023 semester felt like a breaking point. In her Calculus II course, Stankova observed a phenomenon she describes as “free fall”: roughly 25% to 30% of her students were so fundamentally unprepared for the material that they were structurally unable to keep up.
This is not an isolated anecdote. It is the catalyst for a growing revolt among University of California faculty. More than 600 professors, led by a coalition of Berkeley mathematicians, have issued an open letter to UC leadership demanding the reinstatement of SAT and ACT requirements for applicants entering science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) majors.
The faculty’s argument is blunt: the six-year experiment with test-free admissions has created a dangerous vacuum in academic readiness. Professors report that they are increasingly forced to reteach middle-school mathematics while simultaneously attempting to cover the complex curricula required for degrees in engineering, economics, and the hard sciences.
The Data Behind the Deficit
The push for standardized testing is grounded in alarming internal data. According to the letter, diagnostic exams administered to first-semester calculus students at Berkeley between fall 2021 and fall 2023 revealed that at least 20% of students possessed severe mathematical deficits.
The situation appears even more dire at other campuses. A report from a UC San Diego Academic Senate work group documented a staggering thirty-fold increase between 2020 and 2025 in incoming freshmen whose math skills tested below a high school level. More concerningly, 70% of those struggling students were found to be operating at or below a middle-school level of proficiency.
Faculty argue that this creates a paradox of access. While the removal of the SAT was intended to lower barriers for underrepresented and lower-income students, the lack of a standardized benchmark may be setting these same students up for failure. “I don’t see SAT hurting diversity,” Stankova argues. “I actually see it helping it… You give them a ticket to a great university system like UC, only that they fail. How is that diversity?”
The Institutional Tug-of-War
The UC system’s pivot away from standardized tests began in May 2020, when regents voted to eliminate the requirements to combat systemic bias. At the time, the move was hailed as a visionary step toward equity, as SAT/ACT scores were often seen as reflections of a student’s access to expensive prep courses rather than their innate ability.
However, the decision flew in the face of the UC Academic Senate’s own Standardized Testing Task Force. That report suggested that test scores are often a more reliable predictor of university performance than high school GPAs, which can vary wildly based on local grading inflation. It even suggested that the strategic use of test scores could actually increase admission rates for disadvantaged students by providing a counter-weight to under-resourced high school transcripts.
The tide is already shifting at other elite institutions. In a move that puts UC at odds with its peers, Harvard, Stanford, Brown, Caltech, and the University of Pennsylvania have all restored standardized testing requirements for the 2024 or 2025 cycles, recognizing a similar gap in student preparedness following the pandemic-era suspensions.
The Path to 2027
The faculty coalition is not asking for an immediate overnight shift, but rather a planned return to testing for the fall 2027 intake. Crucially, they are demanding that STEM faculty be given formal oversight of the readiness standards for their respective majors, ensuring that admission is tied to actual competency rather than just a holistic profile.
UC leadership has remained cautious. Rachel Zaentz, a spokesperson for the system, stated that the university will continue to focus on “strengthening instruction, collaboration and support” for math readiness. Meanwhile, Ahmet Palazoglu, chair of the UC systemwide Academic Senate, has acknowledged the concerns and called on the admissions board to address college readiness.
The UC Academic Senate’s Board of Admissions and Relations with Schools is currently drafting a roadmap for policy work in the coming academic year. Whether that roadmap leads back to the SAT remains to be seen, but for the professors currently teaching 8th-grade fractions in a university lecture hall, the need for a solution is urgent.
