UC Profs Says California Students Can’t Do Math. They Want SAT/ACT Back

Saying the “UC’s mission is at risk,” a letter signed by hundreds of math and science professors and nearly all mathematics chairs at the University of California system calls for SAT and ACT test requirements to be reinstated.

They want the test requirements reinstated beginning with the 2027 admissions cycle.

The open letter to the UC Regents comes after a November 2025 report from UC San Diego documenting that since test requirements were removed in 2020, the number of students who can’t do high school-level math increased thirtyfold.

As of Thursday, more than 800 professors and chairs of STEM departments have signed the open letter, including many from UC Berkeley, UCLA, and UC Davis. Seven of nine UC math chairs have signed the letter, as have another 37 STEM department chairs.

“The … report documents this crisis in stark terms: in the last five years, the number of students whose mathematics skills fall below high school level increased nearly thirtyfold; moreover, 70% of those students fall below middle school levels,” the letter states.

Professors Warned About SAT Importance

To decrease racial barriers, UC Regents voted unanimously in 2020 to remove the 100-year-old SAT and 67-year-old ACT, relying instead on grades, extracurricular activities, and essays.

This vote came despite warnings from professors saying the tests are a “vital predictor of college success and obscure the impact of severe high-school grade inflation,” the letter states.

“The SAT/ACT mathematics requirement is not an obstacle to equity; rather, it is a prerequisite for it,” the letter states. “Failing to measure preparation gaps does not remove barriers; it moves them into the classroom, where they become harder to overcome.”

Five years on, professors across the system are saying their warnings have come to pass.

A strategy focusing on higher admission from high schools with fewer resources combined with inflated grades is producing unprepared students in advanced courses, the letter states.

In UC San Diego, math placement tests for the incoming 2025 class indicated one-eighth of students did not have basic high school math skills. This despite all students admitted having completed UC course requirements and getting high grades, the study shows.

Study Shows Math/Literacy Connection

The problem wasn’t limited to mathematics.

Researchers found a connection between mathematics and literacy.

In 2024, two out of five students with severe math deficiencies also needed remedial writing instruction. In the same vein, one in four students with inadequate writing skills needed more math help.

“Admitting large numbers of students who are profoundly underprepared risks harming the very students we hope to support, by setting them up for failure,” the UC San Diego study reports.

“It also puts significant strain on faculty who work to maintain rigorous instructional standards. Especially now, when our resources become more constrained, we cannot take on more remedial education than we can responsibly and effectively deliver.”

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