Since 1926, colleges and universities across the country have used standardized tests like the Scholastic Aptitude Tests (SAT) and American College Testing (ACT) as part of their admission processes.
During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, the University of California adopted a test-blind policy, meaning standardized testing scores are not considered. Ivy League colleges, Georgetown, and many others which also began this policy in 2020 have since reinstated required SAT or ACT tests. However, the UC system has maintained a test-blind policy.
“(Standardized test scores) shouldn’t be required because … some part of it is your understanding of the (content), but a lot of it is also test taking strategies,” Sabrina Rahm, a Berkeley High School junior said. Rahm, who is planning to take the SAT in November, added, “I just don’t think it’s really equitable or super accessible to a lot of people. I think there are better ways to measure if someone’s a good fit for (a) school.”
Before changing its policy in 2020, the UC system created a Standardized Testing Task Force composed of professors from all 10 UC campuses, tasked with conducting a year-long study between 2019 and 2020 to understand the use of standardized tests in its admission process. The committee released a report in Jan. 2020, concluding that scores on the SAT and ACT tests better reflect student readiness for college than high school grades and recommended that the UC system continue to require standardized tests.
“There’s a lot of different teachers, (and) different classes … and even if academic ability is just one part of (admission to a school) … it does matter, and it’s better to have a metric that’s standardized,” Hart Hornor-Jones, a sociology PhD candidate at UC San Diego who studies the UC system’s standardized testing requirement, said.
Despite the 2020 committee’s recommendation, the system’s Board of Regents, a 26-member body responsible for setting policy overseeing tuition and managing finances, decided to adopt a test-blind policy in hopes of making admissions fairer and more equitable.
In the years since the UC system adopted their test blind policy, UC professors have expressed concerns about a decline in academic preparedness from admitted students.
Rahm believes that standardized tests are not an accurate metric to accurately measure students’ academic foundation. “Class grades (don’t) just show how well you do on your tests and assignments but also your work ethic. … In my opinion that’s much more important in terms of how you’ll do in college,” she said.
Before the test-blind policy was adopted in 2020, 71 percent of UC Berkeley students tested near or ready for calculus in a diagnostic administered to incoming Calculus 1 students. Comparatively, in 2023, after the policy was adopted, the percentage of UC Berkeley students testing at the same level dropped to 44 percent.
In May 2026, over 3,000 UC faculty signed open letters supporting standardized testing as a required element of the UC admissions process. Of these faculty, roughly 2,300 of them were science, technology, engineering, and math professors.
“The more information we have, the more we’re able to make an informed decision,” said Mark Brilliant, a UC Berkeley history and American Studies professor, who signed the UC social studies, humanities, and professional faculty open letter.
Critics of reinstating standardized testing argue standardized test scores reflect access to resources rather than student potential, pointing to increased admissions for first-generation students as well as students from underrepresented racial and ethnic groups.
Pamela Burdman, the director of Just Equations, a nonprofit focused on the place of math in educational equity and opportunity, emphasized the impact of financial aspects and privilege in standardized tests. “There are barriers to taking the SAT, and often students from more privileged backgrounds have more opportunities to take the SAT … and to get coaching, tutoring, to be prepared to take it,” Burdman said.
Currently, the Academic Senate is conducting a review of the current test-blind policy and has been asked to submit a formal recommendation by June of 2027. The UC Board of Regents is expected to vote on a final decision as to whether or not it will update its policy over the summer, meaning a new policy could be implemented as soon as the 2028 admissions cycle.
With standardized tests and college applications approaching BHS juniors, the re-evaluation of the UC’s test-blind policy is on the minds of many.
“I think it (a reinstatement of standardized testing) would put a lot more pressure on students,” Pippin Brooks, a BHS junior said, “There’s so many different types of students and so many types of learning, and some people aren’t made to take certain tests.”
Although submission of standardized testing scores may be reinstated, they will only be one factor to the admissions process, which is decided through a variety of metrics in holistic review. “(The UC admissions system has) been a balancing of different things. (Admission officers) want to prioritize local students, diverse students — this is true regardless of whether you have the SAT included or not,” Hornor-Jones said.