The unintended consequences of changing admission standards

In 2020, the University of California (UC) Board of Regents made the controversial decision to eliminate SAT and ACT score requirements for incoming students. Initially championed as a major step toward greater equity, this policy shift has led to severe academic challenges. Today, hundreds of university educators are sounding the alarm over a drastic and widening gap in students' quantitative abilities.

Re-teaching basic concepts in advanced classrooms

More than 680 UC professors—including prominent faculty from the mathematics and law departments—recently authored an open letter urging the Board of Regents to reinstate standardized testing. They report that incoming freshmen are arriving so ill-equipped for college-level coursework that instructors are being forced to cover middle school math concepts.

This severe preparation gap is creating highly polarized learning environments. As professors are required to pause and re-teach basic arithmetic, it fundamentally weakens the foundation of the courses. Consequently, it becomes increasingly difficult to instruct the broader class at the high level required for science, technology, engineering, and economics (STEM) degrees.

Staggering data on student unpreparedness

The concerns raised by the faculty are backed by troubling, concrete statistics. A recent UC San Diego report revealed a massive drop in basic math proficiency among the student body over just a few years:

• In 2020, only 30 incoming students at the campus performed below a high-school math level.
• By 2025, that number had skyrocketed to 900 students—a staggering 30-fold increase.
• Currently, approximately one in twelve college freshmen at the institution cannot perform middle school-level math.

The crucial role of early academic support

The professors strongly argue that using a common measure of basic readiness is not an obstacle to equity, but rather a prerequisite for it. Brushing massive preparation gaps under the rug ultimately harms the students and jeopardizes California’s future leadership in scientific and technological fields.

At ChildUp, this growing university crisis highlights a fundamental reality: true academic success begins long before college. The root of the problem lies in the earliest years of learning. Building a robust foundation in early childhood—through engaging tools like preschool math games—prevents these gaps from forming in the first place. When children receive the right early academic support, they develop the confidence required to tackle complex concepts later in life, proving once again that talent is made, not born.

Picture: Two bad Californian college students (ChildUp / Gemini)

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