Last Thursday, the University of California’s (UC) Board of Regents voted 23-0 to end the use of the SAT and ACT tests in admissions for all California freshman applicants through 2024.
The University plans to try to create a new standardized test to use in time for the fall of 2025 admissions, but if they are unable to develop one, the standardized testing requirement for California students will be eliminated.
Possible options for nonresident admissions beginning in 2025 include having them take the new test required of California students or continuing to use their scores from the ACT, SAT, or other approved standardized test(s).
STTF investigated the ability of standardized tests to accurately assess academic performance and found that although SAT/ACT scores can effectively be used to predict student success, they also contribute to the underrepresentation of historically excluded groups in admissions decisions.
The use of standardized test scores in determining admissions have long concerned education reform groups who contend that the tests are a contributing factor in the underrepresentation of African American and Latino students in the UC system.
