SACRAMENTO, Calif., July 19 (Our California Times) — The University of California is reconsidering whether SAT and ACT scores should return to undergraduate admissions — a change that could affect how California high school students prepare for UC applications, and when they decide to take college entrance tests.
No final decision has been made. UC officials say the issue is moving through the university’s shared-governance process, which means faculty review comes first and the UC Board of Regents must approve any change.
What is UC considering?
UC is reviewing whether applicants should again be asked to submit a standardized test score. The current faculty-led review includes two work groups: one focused on whether UC should require the SAT, ACT or Smarter Balanced, and another focused on high school course requirements for admission.
Smarter Balanced is the state test used in California public schools. It is not a college admissions test now, but it is part of the discussion because UC is looking at different ways to measure readiness.
The university is not saying yet which test, if any, would be used. UC also has not said whether any future requirement would apply to all applicants or only to some groups.
Why is the debate back?
UC Regents voted unanimously in 2020 to remove SAT and ACT requirements from admissions. Later, a lawsuit and settlement limited the university from considering those scores in admissions through spring 2025.
The new review began after faculty letters argued that many students were arriving at UC without enough math and writing preparation. More than 1,400 STEM faculty signed one open letter, and another set of open letters gathered more than 3,000 faculty signatures urging UC to rethink standardized testing.
UC Student Association leaders have pushed back. In a letter, the student group said restoring standardized testing would not improve student preparedness.
How does the UC decision-making process work?
UC uses a shared-governance system. That means faculty help shape academic policy before the Regents make the final call.
Ahmet Palazoglu, the chair of the UC Academic Senate, 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.”
Maria Anguiano, chair of the Board of Regents, said at the July regents meeting, “We anticipate a recommendation from the Academic Senate no later than the end of this academic year.” She said the target is around June 2027.
If UC does bring back a testing requirement, university officials say the earliest it could take effect would be the fall 2028 application cycle.
What would this mean for students and families?
For California students, especially high school juniors and seniors planning for UC, the debate matters because it could change how they build an application.
If UC reinstates a test requirement, families may once again see more pressure to pay for test prep, register for exams and plan earlier in high school. School counselors may also need to adjust how they advise students about college readiness.
At the same time, UC leaders have said any test score would be only one part of a broader admissions review. Janet Napolitano, a former UC president, has said a score “shouldn’t be a sole factor” in access to UC, while also noting that a future review could decide it should be “a factor.”
That matters because the Regents and faculty are not debating testing in isolation. They are also reviewing course requirements and the larger question of how UC measures academic preparation.
What is still unresolved?
- Which test, if any, UC would choose
- Whether the policy would cover all applicants or only some
- Whether the earlier timeline change from fall 2027 to June 2027 will be formalized in public documents
- How any future rule would interact with UC’s broader admissions system
For now, the biggest change is that the test debate is active again, and the next step belongs to the Academic Senate before Regents take up the issue again.
