University Of California Should Suspend SAT And ACT As Admissions Requirement, Napolitano Says
LOS ANGELES (CBSLA) -- The president of the 10-campus University of California system is recommending the suspension and possible elimination of the SAT and ACT as part of admissions requirements.
UC President Janet Napolitano shared recommendations and a five-year plan in a document released on Monday.
Due to the impact of the pandemic, the university system had made such admissions tests optional for fall 2021 applicants.
Napolitano is suggesting UC continues operating as a test-optional institution through 2022 and that for 2023 and 2024, UC is "test blind," which would allow applicants to submit scores like the SAT for course placement and scholarship consideration -- with no weight of those tests given to admission selection.
By 2025, the president recommends the elimination of the ACT and SAT in any form for California students wanting to attend the UC, and the development and use of a new UC-specific test instead.
Even if the new test is not ready by 2025, UC would not still discontinue the use of the ACT and SAT in its admissions process for California students, according to Napolitano's proposal.
Work on the new test would be slated to begin this summer and conclude by January 2021 to be ready in time for fall 2025 applicants.
Napolitano is proposing that UC works with K-12 educators, test experts, the California State University and UC faculty in the process of developing a better-suited admissions test.
The UC president is also recommending that plans are made for how admissions will work for nonresident students beginning in 2025, where the new UC-based test could be applied to those applicants as well.
UC was sued for alleged discrimination in December by high school students, advocates for admissions equity for requiring incoming students to take the SAT and ACT, which critics have argued don't accurately predict a student's success and disadvantages students of color and students from low-income families.
