UC STEM Professors Want to Restore SAT, ACT Requirements

요약

"The letter attributes the decline in student readiness to the University of California admissions system’s 2020 decision to eliminate standardized testing requirements..." The post UC STEM Professors Want to Restore SAT, ACT Requirements first appeared on Le…

본문

UC STEM Professors Want to Restore SAT, ACT Requirements

“The letter attributes the decline in student readiness to the University of California admissions system’s 2020 decision to eliminate standardized testing requirements…”

Posted by Mary Chastain Tuesday, June 23, 2026 at 11:00am 1 Comment

At least some professors in the University of California system have brains. From Campus Reform:

Over 1,500 STEM faculty across the University of California system, including 53 department chairs, have signed an open letter to university leadership calling for the university system to reinstate standardized test requirements in the admissions process, citing students’ lack of competency in high school math concepts.

The June 5 letter states that the number of students whose mathematical ability falls below a high school level has increased 30-fold in the last five years. Internal investigations revealed that this increase has coincided with declining student performance in calculus as well as other basic math courses.

“Basic mathematical fluency is analogous to literacy; without it, success in university-level STEM becomes structurally unattainable for students,” the letter reads. “We now observe preparation gaps so severe that instructors must reteach middle-school mathematics while simultaneously teaching the material students need for sciences, engineering, economics, and other quantitatively demanding fields.”

The letter attributes the decline in student readiness to the University of California admissions system’s 2020 decision to eliminate standardized testing requirements, arguing that test scores provide a critical measure of student ability, particularly at a time when applicants can use artificial intelligence to assist in writing their college essays.