SACRAMENTO, Calif., July 19 (Our California Times) — The University of California is revisiting a question that affects every future applicant to its campuses: should SAT or ACT scores once again be part of undergraduate admissions?
For California families, the answer could change how students prepare for UC and what they submit with an application. But nothing has changed yet. UC officials say any new testing rule would still have to go through faculty review and then get approval from the UC Board of Regents. If the system does bring testing back, UC says the earliest it could take effect would be the fall 2028 application cycle.
What is UC considering?
UC’s current review has two faculty-led work groups. One is looking at whether the university should require the SAT, the ACT, or California’s Smarter Balanced test. The other is reviewing high school course requirements for UC admission.
That matters because the debate is not just about a single test score. It is about how standardized testing would fit into a larger admissions review.
Why has the issue come back?
Faculty pressure helped push the review forward. 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 reconsider standardized testing.
The UC Student Association has argued against bringing testing back. In a letter, the student group said reinstating standardized tests would not improve student preparedness.
How did UC get here?
The UC Board of Regents unanimously removed SAT and ACT requirements in 2020.
Later, a lawsuit settlement and related court limits kept UC from considering SAT and ACT scores in admissions through spring 2025. UC also had once planned to create a new UC-specific test after phasing out the SAT and ACT, but later reports said that test was never developed.
Who makes the decision?
UC uses a shared-governance process. That means faculty review comes first, and the Board of Regents makes the final decision.
At the July regents meeting, UC Board of Regents Chair Maria Anguiano said the Academic Senate should deliver a recommendation no later than the end of the academic year, around June 2027.
UC Academic Senate Chair Ahmet Palazoglu 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.”
UC has said that if a testing requirement returns, it would not start immediately. The earliest possible start would be the fall 2028 application cycle.
What would change for students?
If UC restores testing, California high school students applying to UC campuses would be affected first. It could change what information those students submit with their applications, and it could affect the high school communities that help them plan for college.
UC has not said whether any restored requirement would apply to every applicant or only to certain groups.
What is still unknown?
Several pieces are still open. UC has not taken a final vote. Officials have not said which test, if any, they would choose. And they have not said whether a future testing rule would apply across the board or in a more limited way.
For now, the main takeaway is simple: UC is still reviewing the question, not settling it. Families planning for UC should watch the faculty process and the Regents, because those two steps will decide whether SAT and ACT scores return to the admissions process.