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UC Provost Says No To Standardized Testing For Admissions

LOS ANGELES (CBSLA) – The University of California system has no plans to bring back standardized testing as part of its admissions requirements.

"UC will continue to practice test-free admissions now and into the future," UC Provost Michael Brown told to UC Board of Regents Thursday, according to the Los Angeles Times.

In May of 2020, a few months into the COVID-19 pandemic, the UC Board of Regents voted unanimously to suspend the SAT/ACT requirement for all freshman applicants through at least the fall of 2024.

Although the requirement was dropped, it still left open the door for UC schools to consider standardized test scores on an optional basis.

However, in September of 2020, an Alameda County Superior Court judge went further, ruling that the UC system can no longer use ACT and SAT tests as a determinant for admissions. The judge's ruling prohibited the consideration of SAT and ACT scores even from students who optionally chose to submit them.

Back in May of 2020, the board had said that it would search for a new type of standardized test that it believes "better aligns with the content the university expects students to have mastered for college readiness."

On Thursday though, Brown said that, after researching the issue, no such alternative test has been found, the Times reports.

There are 10 colleges in the UC system, including UCLA and UC Irvine.

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