The University of California (UC) has put on hold its plan to reconsider the role of standardized tests in admissions, leaving the future of its admissions policy uncertain. This decision comes just a day before the Board of Regents meets in San Francisco, and it has sparked a range of reactions from faculty, students, and the broader public.
The UC Board of Admissions and Relations with Schools (BOARS) had initially announced a two-pronged approach to address the debate over standardized testing. One group would examine the advantages and disadvantages of relying on SAT and ACT scores, while the other would re-evaluate high school course requirements. However, the board voted to suspend this plan, removing the relevant information from the UC website.
This move has caused concern among some faculty members, who argue that the university is moving too slowly. Michael Stryker, a UCSF physiology professor and BOARS member, highlights the short interval between the board's reversal and the regents' meeting, suggesting that it could lead to confusion. He emphasizes that the board still holds significant power over admissions matters and could re-evaluate testing concerns later.
Zvezdelina Stankova, a UC Berkeley math professor, shares a similar view, criticizing the abandoned road map as a delay in making a decision. She suggests that a straightforward recommendation should have been made to the UC's Academic Senate, and calls for a commitment to restore the SAT/ACT on the September 2026 agenda.
However, others argue that the suspension is a necessary step to ensure a thorough and evidence-driven review. Stryker points out that the lack of comparable applicant data collected after 2020 makes it challenging to produce useful evidence through the proposed study. He suggests that the board should recommend restoring standardized testing for the fall 2027 admissions and study its effects over four years, using methods similar to those employed in the 2020 evaluation.
The UC's decision to go test-optional in 2020, and later test-free, was rooted in concerns about the impact of standardized testing on students of color and its correlation to race and family wealth. The university stands out among elite institutions in maintaining test-free admissions, while many private universities, including Ivy League schools, have reinstated testing requirements. This highlights the ongoing debate and differing perspectives within the higher education community regarding the role of standardized tests in admissions.
