California GOP lawmakers push for reinstatement of SAT, ACT in UC admissions

Tarini Mehta, The Sacramento Bee on Aug 21, 2026

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SACRAMENTO, Calif. — The raging debate over standardized test requirements in the University of California’s admissions policy may soon enter the California State Capitol.

In a letter to university leadership, two Republican lawmakers urged the University of California system to move quickly to reinstate the use of SAT and ACT scores in undergraduate admissions. And one lawmaker plans to introduce a bill about it in the next legislative session.

The issue first came under the national spotlight in June, when hundreds of UC faculty from science, technology, engineering and mathematics disciplines signed an open letter calling for the reinstatement of tests like the SAT and ACT in the admissions process. The faculty cited widening gaps in math ability among students in their classrooms. Soon after, non-STEM faculty initiated a letter of their own, which has been endorsed by more than 900 professors.

But not everyone agrees. The University of California Student Association, which represents more than 237,000 undergraduates, expressed deep concern over racial and social disparities that it said standardized tests would bring into the college admissions process and drew attention to a marked rise in freshman applications since the SAT requirement was removed in 2020. Groups like EdTrust-West and The Campaign for College Opportunity, which champion equity and access to higher education, echoed that standardized tests were biased against low-income and minority students.

To make an informed decision, the UC Academic Senate announced a formal review process of its policies and sped it up such that a recommendation is expected by June next year. The earliest a change could be enacted, per this timeline, is in the 2027 admissions cycle for the cohort entering university in fall 2028.

But that’s not fast enough, according to state Sens. Rosilicie Ochoa Bogh, and Roger Niello, both Republicans, who asked the university to move without delay and provide legislators with more information on how it plans to proceed.

“I’m hoping they can resolve this issue and incorporate the SATs and ACTs for admission consideration starting next fall in 2027, rather than getting everything squared away not until 2028,” Ochoa Bogh said. “Because that’s when we lose a whole cohort of students that will be basically unprepared. So my hope is that the UC Regents can make a decision by the end of this year.”

In line with the federal government’s push to eliminate diversity, equity and inclusion practices in higher education, Ochoa Bogh said standardized tests were important to reverse an alleged trend of students not getting accepted to universities because of “an emphasis on DEI.”

The return of standardized testing to university admissions processes following their widespread suspension during the pandemic has been a priority of the Trump administration, which has accused several institutions across the country of race-based discrimination in admissions. Essentially, the administration has accused schools of lowering their standards to admit more diverse student bodies and used average test scores across demographic groups of admitted students as evidence.

As vice chair of the Senate Education Committee, Ochoa Bogh said she felt the need to step into this conversation when she heard from concerned professors that the decision-makers — the UC Board of Regents — were “not really meeting and making a strong alliance with them.” Now, she plans to be “a little more aggressive on the issue” as she considers proposing legislation in the next session.

Last month, Republican gubernatorial candidate Steve Hilton and lieutenant gubernatorial candidate Gloria Romero issued a similar letter urging the UC Board of Regents to reinstate the SAT as part of UC admissions criteria. They argued that “profound” achievement gaps between Black, Latino and white students would not be solved by “eliminating measurements that revealed them.”

Meanwhile, when asked for his opinion at a news conference earlier this week, Gov. Gavin Newsom said he had “feelings” about it but wanted to “see the data” on it before saying anything more.

“I talked to the UC president and members of the board and expressed that point of view not just publicly but also privately,” Newsom said. “The data needs to bear out the ultimate determination on this. But again, there’s some contra data coming out and suggesting different things.”

While professors advocating for the return of the SAT say the students entering their classrooms are increasingly under-prepared for university-level math, the university’s timely graduation rates just hit all-time highs. In the 2024-2025 school year, the university’s freshman four-year graduation rate reached 74% while the transfer two-year rate surpassed 66%. Both mark significant increases over the last decade. The SAT and ACT requirements were eliminated from the UC’s admissions policies in 2020.