During the COVID-19 pandemic, the University of California unanimously agreed to abolish the testing requirement, as high school students could no longer safely take the in-person examinations. However, just a month later, the University of California Board of Regents agreed to make the change permanent — making the application absolutely test-blind.
The SAT and the ACT are needed in the admissions process because they provide an objective, standardized benchmark that can accurately gauge college preparedness. Standardized testing also enables students from underfunded schools to stand out in an admissions pool and showcase their potential beyond the subjectivity of their school grading.
The University of California Board of Regents should approve the return of standardized testing requirements because it ensures and validates the academic rigor of applicants and promotes equity in the application process.
Standardized tests, such as the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) and the ACT, actively measure and verify the academic rigor of applicants. According to a report conducted by the UC San Diego Senate-Administration Workgroup on Admissions, one in eight UCSD freshmen needed to take remedial math courses because they couldn’t do basic algebra. In fact, the inadequacies presented by the students were so astonishing such that the curriculum for the remedial courses had to be redesigned to accommodate first through eighth grade level mathematics.
How could this even happen?
A main point of blame would be the rampant GPA inflation in high school grading. A 2023 report conducted by the ACT found several cases of grade inflation tactics after investigating high schools across the socioeconomic spectrum. The study found that schools with students from lower socioeconomic backgrounds experienced more grade inflation than other schools of higher backgrounds. In addition, they found there was no correlation with the higher grades and performance on the ACT.
Recently, a UC Berkeley mathematics professor, Zvezdelina Stankova shared having to reteach how to solve the simple linear equation 7x – 5 = 2 in her introductory calculus class. As of now, more than 1,400 UC faculty have called for the return of testing due to clear academic inadequacies in the student population. If standardized testing were to be adopted again by the UC system, it would verify the academic rigor of the students, put a proper check against the prevalent GPA inflation issue by ensuring that students are able to do basic math in rigorous college environments.
Additionally, standardized testing is a great equalizer in the college admissions process, not a tactic for discrimination. In the pre-pandemic 2019 case Smith v. Regents of the University of California, the Plaintiffs argued that standardized testing was a signal of wealth and socioeconomic status. Those that placed well on the SAT or ACT had numerous attempts for retaking and exam coaching, whereas those in low-income households didn’t have access to those resources and support. In conjunction with the immediate pressure of COVID-19, the SAT/ACT requirement was eliminated in 2021.
In 2022, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) became one of the first universities to return back to the test-required policy for admissions. The university reported that rather than lowering socioeconomic barriers for students, test-optional policies actually raised them. MIT used research from the University of California Academic Senate’s 2020 report to demonstrate how standardized testing actually protects low-income students, citing that testing could help discover talented individuals from those school districts.
The SAT provides a simple, objective and quantitative metric that allows applicants from low-income backgrounds to stand out in a pool of high income students. The same research mentioned that standardized testing is statistically a better determination of undergraduate success than high school GPA.
Many universities have followed in MIT’s footsteps and returned to test-required policies, with Columbia being the last Ivy League institution to return to test-required just last month.
The efficacy of free online materials isn’t up to much dispute either. In a Florida public school district with over 17,000 students — where 25% of students speak English as a second language — the district was able to drastically improve their students’ SAT scores with free Khan Academy prep materials. While not completely eradicating the resource gap, study tools such as Khan Academy help reduce the gap and allow students to prove their caliber in the admissions process.
In the fight against unstandardized GPA inflation, the SAT & ACT standardized tests are verifiers of high school grades and close socioeconomic barriers to level the playing field.
With these signs, including the calls to action from UC faculty and the paths set from other universities who’ve already returned to test-required policies after the pandemic, the UC Board of Regents should reinstate the testing requirement as a factor of admissions. Maybe then, we won’t need to reteach an equation like 7x – 5 = 2.
Aarya Banerjee is an Opinion Intern for summer 2026 quarter. He can be reached at asbaner1@uci.edu.
Edited by Julia Kremenetsky.
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