3,000 UC Faculty Urge SAT and ACT Return as Test-Blind Policy Fails Equity Goals
Updated
Updated · Fox News · Aug 22
3,000 UC Faculty Urge SAT and ACT Return as Test-Blind Policy Fails Equity Goals
1 articles · Updated · Fox News · Aug 22
Summary
More than 3,000 University of California faculty members have backed open letters pressing the 10-campus system to restore SAT and ACT scores in undergraduate admissions.
Faculty critics say the 2020 test-blind shift left more students academically unprepared while failing to reduce racial disparities; UCLA sociologist Gabriel Rossman said Latino-Anglo enrollment gains leveled off after the change.
UCLA and Berkeley professors cited readiness data to support the push: among about 2,200 Calculus I students tested in 2018-2020, 71% were ready or nearly ready, versus 51% from 2021-2023, falling to 44% in 2023.
The campaign has widened beyond STEM, with social science, humanities and other non-STEM faculty endorsing use of both math and verbal SAT/ACT components.
A July 22 directive from UC's Academic Council asked BOARS to conduct a faculty-led review of standardized testing, setting up a formal recommendation on whether to reinstate the exams.