The University of California’s math faculty are done waiting. In a letter to UC leadership covered by the Los Angeles Times, they demand the return of the SAT for STEM admissions, citing “severe” math deficits among incoming students since the system went test-blind in 2020.
This is not culture-war noise. It is a data-driven alarm from the people who teach calculus to freshmen.
UC dropped the SAT after years of criticism that the test disadvantaged low-income and minority students. The system adopted a holistic review process. What faculty now report is a measurable decline in quantitative preparedness. Students arrive with strong GPAs but cannot handle the math required for engineering, computer science, and the physical sciences. The faculty letter argues that the SAT, for all its flaws, remains the single best predictor of first-year STEM performance. They want it back, at least for applicants to math-intensive majors.
The tech industry should read this closely. UC is the largest public university system in the United States and a primary feeder for California’s engineering and software workforce. If a generation of graduates enters the labor pool with weaker quantitative foundations, the effects ripple through hiring, training costs, and the pace of innovation. Companies that rely on UC for talent have already begun to notice. Some have quietly reintroduced technical screening exams for new hires. Others report longer ramp times for junior engineers.
The faculty are not asking for a blanket return. They propose a targeted requirement for STEM applicants, paired with continued holistic review for other majors. This is a pragmatic compromise. It acknowledges that the SAT is an imperfect instrument but insists that the alternative — no instrument at all — is worse.
What comes next matters. If UC reinstates the SAT for STEM, other public systems may follow. If it does not, the gap between high school grades and college readiness will continue to widen. The faculty have made their case. The question is whether the administration, and the tech companies that depend on its output, will listen.