The University of California system are some of the best public schools in the country, from the crown jewels of UCLA and UC Berkeley, to incredibly strong research institutions like UC San Diego and UC Santa Barbara. These schools are remarkable for being one of the few groups of schools to remove the SAT and ACT admissions requirements before the Covid pandemic normalized the process. Recently, however, there has been pushback to this process, with a by professors across UC campuses calling for a return in standardized test scores in admissions. Now, faculty always have opinions on college admissions, but this seems to go beyond the regular grumbling. In this article, we’re going to look at what their complaint actually is, whether or not it’s well founded, and how this might impact you if you’re thinking about applying to any UC school.
What Does the UC Testing Petition Say?
The petition was spearheaded by professors in the math department at UC Berkeley, but signees come from across STEM fields, and across all campuses within the UC system. This shows a remarkable degree of coordination; while not every professor has signed on, more than 600 did. As anyone who has worked with college professors knows, getting more than 600 of them to agree to anything is quite an accomplishment.
The petition specifically requests that standardized tests be required for all students who are interested in majoring in STEM fields. Since the UC system requires applicants to apply by school or major, this would be quite simple to implement, theoretically at least. More interesting is why these professors are requesting this. The petition :
- 20% of incoming students from 2021-2023 taking introductory calculus courses were not fully prepared
- The deficiencies are so extreme in some cases professors must teach Middle School level math to students
- That without basic math fluency, success in STEM fields is untenable for students
Notably, this is not the first time UC faculty have raised concerns about students’ math preparation in recent years. Back in November, the that students’ math skills had plummeted over the past five years. In 2025, one in twelve students had math skills below a middle school level, despite having a solid math GPA.Ìý
Remedial math courses at UC San Diego were only designed in 2016; in 2020 there were 32 students enrolled in it. By 2023, that number had risen to 390. In the fall of 2025, it reached 971, and courses were now addressing holes in math back to middle school levels.
The professors who signed the clarification that this isn’t a universal problem; most students still arrive at college fully capable of doing the math that’s required. The bottom percentile, however, is in freefall, and unable to meet the demands of the coursework they are asked to complete.
Is This a Real Problem (and Will Standardized Tests Fix it)?
Professors have always complained about the academic capabilities of undergraduates. This is true regardless of year or institution; when I was in grad school, at a department function, complaining about the quality of work of the undergrads was commonplace. The best students were fine of course, but the bottom percentile just weren’t hacking it.
The school’s acceptance rate at that time was around 10%; it’s only dropped since.
The point of this anecdote isn’t to say that the claims of UC’s professors are baseless, but to highlight why they matter. Professors always complain about students; if things have gotten bad enough to motivate them to circulate and sign a petition about it, then things are truly beyond the pale.
There has been concern about math performance by students ever since the Covid pandemic; indeed, we are still seeing losses in math from the pandemic. California’s own tests identify around 30% of high school students being at or above level in math; these are the ones who are theoretically best prepared for college. The question then is why these students grades and GPAs aren’t enough to demonstrate their readiness; as seems to be the case.
The answer, or at least part of it, comes down to grade inflation in high schools, and policies which are designed to prevent students from failing. These are well intentioned in both cases, but have cumulative impact of robbing high school grades of their significance and predictive power. This is the curse of grade inflation; when anyone can earn an A regardless of work or mastery, then an A no longer means anything.
This is not a problem created by teachers; the fact that most students arrive at college fully equipped to enter math courses is a sign of that. This is a problem with multiple sources and no clear solutions, but which must be addressed at the high school level; students who can’t do math on-level must address that before they move on to college level coursework, especially in STEM, where mathematical fluency underpins everything else you are doing.
Will Standardized Tests Fix It?
This is the big question, and it’s unclear what the answer is. Anecdotal evidence from discussion boards frequented by professors, as well as professors we speak to, suggests that this is a problem which extends far beyond California, and far beyond the UC system. Even in schools where standardized tests are required for admissions, there is an increasing trend of students being ill–equipped for the required work.
Standardized tests may be uniquely equipped to help the situation in this specific instance, but are unlikely to be a solution overall. They are still an imperfect predictor of both student preparation for college, and for their eventual performance once they get there. While these steps by the UC system are likely to at least partially ameliorate their present issue, they won’t fix the underlying one: that students who graduate from high school are not guaranteed to be able to do math.
What Does This Mean for Students Applying to UC Schools?
As of yet, there has been no change in the admissions requirements for any of the UC schools. While the administration has certainly received the faculty petition, any changes they make (even if they want to make any) will take some time to implement. Admissions changes are discussed each Spring at around this time, so it is possible there are changes rolled out in the coming weeks. We do not think that is likely however.
The most likely result of this is that testing requirements will be rolled out slowly, and likely not starting this fall. Universities, generally speaking, only move quickly when they absolutely have to. The pandemic forced quick action on changing testing requirements, a faculty petition will likely not.
Complicating things still further is the fact the UC system went test-optional in the first place due to a court order. Now, we aren’t lawyers, but any time lawyers are involved things are far more complicated and take far longer to unravel. It is entirely possible for them to circumvent or overturn this order, but any attempt to do so will take time. Court cases move quite slowly, generally speaking.
While this is our prediction, we can’t see the future, and many schools beyond the UCs are returning to requiring standardized test scores. We advise all students we work with to take these tests, and to do as well on them as they are able. WHile you may not be required to submit scores for the particular school you are interested in, some of the schools on your list will want them, and many scholarships require standardized test scores as well.
If you are struggling with math, however, then you need to take additional steps. There’s no shame in it, but this is something you need to address before attending college, especially if you are interested in a STEM field. Engineers, doctors, programmers, scientists; all must use math regularly and fluently, and needing to catch up on lost time once you are in college will make your life much harder, and can require you to spend more time in school.
If this is an issue for you, get help now. Schools have resources for exactly this scenario, and there are plenty of online resources as well, free and paid, which can help you catch up on math topics. As the saying goes, the best time to plant a tree was twenty years ago. The second best time is now.
Final Thoughts
The UC schools handle some of the highest application rates in the country, hundreds of thousands of students applying across the system each year. Any change they make to their admissions practices is likely to be widely felt, and so it makes sense that this is major news. We do believe these professors have encountered a legitimate issue, and one which needs to be addressed in some way.
We hope that this article has helped you better understand this situation, and how it may impact your own college application journey. College applications are already stressful, and headlines like this only add to that. If you are concerned about your own standardized test scores, or want advice on any other aspect of your application, then ³Ô¹Ï¹ÙÍø can help. Schedule a free consultation today to learn more, we’re always happy to hear from you.
