More than 600 UC faculty are calling on the University to reinstate standardized testing requirements for undergraduate STEM applicants, alleging that students are not prepared enough for college-level coursework.
The faculty signed on to a letter asking the UC Board of Regents, the UC Office of the President and Academic Senate leadership to require undergraduate STEM applicants to submit an SAT or ACT math score, beginning with the 2027-28 admissions cycle. The UC paused its standardized testing requirement during the COVID-19 pandemic and later stopped considering applicants’ scores altogether, making it one of few universities to permanently go test-blind.
The signatories also called for STEM faculty members to have more oversight over admissions practices – and academic readiness standards – for undergraduate STEM majors.
UC Office of the President and UCLA Media Relations did not immediately respond in time to a request for comment on the letter.
Several UCLA faculty signed the letter, including Mario Bonk, the interim chair of the mathematics department.
“Obscuring preparation gaps harms both students individually and the University collectively,” the letter said. “It offers the appearance of access while undermining the chance of success.”
The letter said that they have observed widening gaps in students’ mathematical preparation since the UC eliminated standardized testing. It cited a UC San Diego Senate-Administration Workgroup on Admissions report released in November 2025 which found that the number of students with math skills below high-school level increased by nearly 30 times over the past five years.
Students’ grade-point averages and application essays can no longer reliably assess whether they are prepared for university-level STEM coursework amid an era of grade inflation and artificial intelligence tools, faculty alleged in the letter.
“Failing to measure preparation gaps does not remove barriers; it moves them into the classroom, where they become harder to overcome,” the letter said.
SAT and ACT math scores would provide a baseline measure of readiness rather than a measure of advanced mathematical ability, faculty said in the letter. They added that standardized testing could help identify the potential that students from underserved backgrounds – whose abilities may not be reflected in their coursework – have to succeed at UC campuses.
Many other leading STEM institutions have resumed standardized testing consideration, faculty said in the letter. Harvard University, Dartmouth College, Brown University, among others, reinstated standardized testing requirements for the fall 2025 admissions cycle after suspending them during the pandemic.
The UC originally planned in May 2020 to make standardized tests optional for fall 2021 and fall 2022 applicants, stop considering them for fall 2023 and 2024 California applicants and eliminate the consideration of standardized testing altogether if it did not find a different exam to use by fall 2025.
However, a lawsuit filed in December 2019 by students, community organizations and the Compton Unified School District, changed that timeline. The plaintiffs alleged that the UC’s use of SAT and ACT scores in admissions put students of color, students with disabilities and low-income students at a disadvantage.
Though the UC voted in May 2020 to make the exams optional for at least two years, a court order forced it to stop considering standardized tests altogether while the lawsuit was ongoing. The UC agreed in a May 2021 lawsuit settlement to eliminate the SAT and ACT exams from its review process until fall 2025.
Students may still submit scores for course placement or to fulfill minimum requirements, but the UC does not consider standardized testing for admission into any major.
“Restoring objective data and introducing faculty oversight will allow the University to support students effectively, provide institutional accountability, and preserve the standards that make a UC STEM degree meaningful,” the letter said.
