Overview
- The open letter was circulated Wednesday and has been signed by more than 550 STEM faculty across the University of California system urging a math testing requirement for 2027 applicants.
- Signers point to a November UC San Diego workgroup report that found a roughly thirty-fold rise from 2020 to 2025 in incoming students testing below high‑school math level and said about 70 percent of that group scored below middle‑school level.
- Faculty authors say diagnostic data at UC Berkeley show persistent gaps — at least 20 percent of first‑semester calculus students tested deficient over 2021–2023 — forcing instructors to reteach basic math in college courses.
- UC system officials and the systemwide Academic Senate say they are listening and have asked BOARS and admissions committees to develop a policy roadmap but no formal reinstatement has been approved.
- The dispute recalls the 2020 Regents vote to suspend SAT/ACT use for equity reasons and legal constraints, and any change would need Academic Senate and Regents approval with consequences for placement, classroom workloads, and equity debates.