SACRAMENTO, Calif., July 19 (Our California Times) — The University of California is again weighing whether SAT or ACT scores should be part of undergraduate admissions. No change has been approved yet, but the discussion matters for California high school juniors and seniors now planning college applications, and for the counselors and teachers helping them prepare.
If UC brings testing back, it would not happen right away. UC officials have said the earliest possible start would be the fall 2028 application cycle.
What is UC reconsidering?
UC Regents eliminated SAT and ACT requirements in 2020, in a unanimous vote. Since then, UC admissions has operated without those scores as a required part of the application.
Now the university is reviewing whether that should change. The process is moving through UC’s shared-governance system, which means faculty review comes first, and the Board of Regents would still have to approve any final policy.
Two faculty-led work groups are part of the review. One is studying whether UC should require the SAT, ACT, or the Smarter Balanced test. The other is looking at high school course requirements for UC admission.
Why is the issue back now?
The debate has grown after faculty members argued that UC should take another look at how well incoming students are prepared for college-level math and writing.
More than 1,400 STEM faculty signed one open letter urging UC to reconsider standardized testing, and another set of open letters gathered more than 3,000 faculty signatures, according to the letters and coverage of them.
Supporters of a return say a test score could give admissions officers one more data point, especially when judging readiness for demanding classes. The idea is not that a score would be the only measure. Former UC President Janet Napolitano said in earlier coverage that a standardized test score “shouldn’t be a sole factor” in deciding access to UC.
Opponents argue that bringing testing back would not fix deeper problems in college preparation and could add pressure on students from schools with fewer resources. The UC Student Association has said restored standardized testing would not improve student preparedness.
How does the UC decision process work?
UC is a public university system, so changes to admissions policy do not happen with a single vote. Faculty first study the issue and make recommendations through the Academic Senate. Then the Board of Regents makes the final call.
At the July regents meeting, Regents Chair Maria Anguiano said, “We anticipate a recommendation from the Academic Senate no later than the end of this academic year.”
UC Academic Senate Chair Ahmet Palazoglu said in a UC Office of the President statement, “The Academic Senate is not rescinding its commitment to a comprehensive review of standardized testing in admissions.”
That means the debate is still active, even though the timeline has been sped up. The Academic Senate had originally aimed for a later report, but UC leaders pushed for a faster recommendation.
What would change for students and families?
For California students applying to UC campuses, a return of testing could mean another item to plan for in the college application process.
That would affect:
- high school juniors and seniors deciding whether to take the SAT or ACT;
- families weighing test prep costs and time;
- counselors at California public high schools advising students on UC admissions;
- teachers, especially in math and writing, whose classrooms often connect to college readiness discussions.
It would also matter differently for students depending on the policy UC chooses. The university has not said whether it would use the SAT, the ACT, the Smarter Balanced test, or some other option. It also has not said whether any new rule would apply to all applicants or only some groups.
What happened to the old UC test policy?
UC’s earlier move away from SAT and ACT scores was tied to broader concerns about fairness and access. Later legal action added more limits. Coverage of the settlement and court order says UC agreed not to consider SAT or ACT scores in admissions through spring 2025.
UC officials also have said the system never developed the separate UC-specific test that was once discussed as a replacement.
So for now, the practical answer is simple: UC has not changed its admissions policy yet, but it is actively studying whether standardized testing should return. If the Regents approve a change later, the earliest effect would be fall 2028.
For California families, that means the next few admission cycles are likely to stay in transition while UC decides whether test scores should become part of the process again.
