UC Berkeley faculty first to sign 1,000-strong systemwide petition for reinstatement of standardized test scores in STEM admissions | UC

More than 1,100 STEM faculty across the UC system have signed a petition calling for the reinstatement of standardized testing scores by 2027 in the admission process for STEM majors, citing student underpreparedness and a lack of faculty oversight. UC Berkeley faculty were among the first to sign the petition.

The petition includes signatures from Nobel laureate Jennifer Doudna and Fields medalist Richard Borcherds, both UC Berkeley faculty, and is accompanied by an open letter that describes “severe” gaps in preparation, more time spent on prerequisite material, needing to reteach middle school mathematics concepts and risk of degree incompletion. 

All UC campuses have been test-blind since 2020, meaning that they do not consider standardized testing scores, such as from the SAT or ACT, during the admissions process for freshmen. 

UC Berkeley mathematics faculty Svetlana Jitomirskaya and Zvezdelina Stankova both described the release of a UC San Diego admissions report last November as a turning point.The report found that between 2020 and 2025, 70% of freshmen entering UCSD tested below middle school level in their math skills. 

A diagnostic test administered to Calculus I students at UC Berkeley between 2021 and 2023, also cited in the letter,revealed increasing polarization between strongly prepared students and students with preparation deficits. The exam tested for eight topics measuring mathematical proficiency, including algebra and geometry. 

Students who passed zero to two out of the eight topics on the test were categorized as facing a severe preparation deficit,and about 64% of this group did not pass Calculus I. 

Stankova recalled teaching Calculus II in 2023, where she said she saw a drop in attendance from one-third of the class, decreased participation and spending time on middle school algebra problems in office hours when she taught the course again this year.

“It was as if the floor was taken out … and a third of the class was in free fall. There was nothing I could do,” Stankova said. 

The decision to eliminate test scores from the admission process in 2020 came after a lawsuit alleging that the SAT and ACT tests exclude underrepresented students. 

However, the open letter argues that standardized testing scores are a more equitable metric than UC’s current measures for admission, such as GPA or application essays. 

“We actually view ‘test-blind’ as the true disadvantage,” Jitomirskaya said in an email. “When you remove scores, you pivot to ‘soft’ metrics like expensive extracurriculars and GPA-inflated transcripts from elite private schools. The SAT is the only objective way for a brilliant student from an under-resourced school to ‘break through.’” 

The Board of Admissions and Relations with Schools, which falls under the UC Academic Senate, is developing a proposal for working with state and K-12 education leaders to increase college readiness. 

According to a statement from UC Academic Senate Chair Ahmet Palazoglu, the proposal is a response to UC faculty’s concerns about undergraduate preparedness. 

Voting on reinstating standardized testing would fall to the UC Academic Senate, subject to the approval of the UC Board of Regents. 

“We do care about these students,” Stankova said. “Faculty wants everyone to achieve their dream, and for that they have to be matched with the suitable campus, system, program and given resources. Being placed directly into UC STEM programs with severe deficiencies is not a ticket to success, but a ticket to failure.”