In an op-ed published by The San Francisco Standard, University of California, Berkeley math professor Zvezdelina Stankova recently highlighted a troubling trend inside her own classrooms.
"I teach calculus, and some of my students can't do middle school math," she wrote.
Since the UC system adopted a "test-blind" admissions policy—scrapping standardized testing like the SAT and ACT—calculus readiness among incoming students has plummeted.
According to Berkeley's diagnostic testing, the share of fully prepared Calculus I students dropped from over 70% before the pandemic down to just 26% by 2023. The single most common score on the diagnostic exam was a zero.
AFN has reported that over two-thirds of UC math faculty, joined by five Nobel laureates, are urging the university to reinstate standardized tests, arguing that relying solely on high school grades and essays hides severe skill gaps.
Matt Lamb, associate editor at The College Fix, says the policy shift has created a dual crisis for high schools and higher education.
"The University of California system's elimination of using ACT and SAT has let in a lot of students who otherwise would have been flagged as not qualified," he submits. "That's problem one. Problem two is that the high schools graduated students who were not prepared to do basic math, including fractions."
He says the issue goes far beyond failing a college exam; professors report having to halt lectures on advanced integrals to review middle-school algebra.
Additionally, Lamb emphasizes that letting students slide by with unearned grades sets them up for failure in everyday life in the real world.
"Being able to figure out what percentage of your monthly budget is going to food and going to gas ... those all require basic math skills," he points out.
Despite mounting pressure from faculty and local school boards, the UC Academic Senate's review of its testing policy is not scheduled to wrap up until June 2027. That means any change in admissions rules will not take effect until fall 2028 at the earliest.
In the meantime, experts say the burden falls on parents, students, and California residents to hold schools accountable and demand higher standards.
"UC Berkeley is supposed to be one of the top universities in the world, and they apparently are letting in people who are not qualified to attend," Lamb says.
