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The University of California made waves when it went test-blind this fall.
Although the system may still use SAT or ACT scores for course placement after acceptance, scores will not play a role in admissions decisions at any of the nine schools that comprise the UC system. This includes the guaranteed admission program for in-state students, which previously used the admissions index based on test scores and GPA. The UC system is in the process of revising the admissions index. These standardized tests will also not be used in determining the recipients of Regents and Chancellor’s scholarships.
Early in the pandemic, UC schools (like many schools across the country) became test-optional for the 2020-2021 school year when spring SAT and ACT test dates were canceled. A bit later, in response to criticism of the underrepresentation of Black and Latino students on UC campuses, the UC Board of Regents unanimously voted to continue test-blind admissions after the pandemic and enacted a five-year plan to do away with the standardized testing requirement and replace it with a new test by 2025.
The UC system is one of the most prestigious public university systems in the country, and the UC decision to go test-blind will affect admissions at higher education institutions throughout the United States, public and private alike.
A coalition of students, along with a California school district and several advocacy groups, filed a lawsuit against the UC over the use of standardized test scores in its admissions process, arguing that it discriminates against people of color, largely Black and Hispanic students, and those with disabilities.
The College Board and ACT canceled all spring SAT and ACT test dates respectively because of the COVID-19 pandemic, prompting many institutions, including UC, to change their admissions policies to test-optional for the 2020-2021 admissions cycle, and in some cases beyond that.
On May 21, the UC Board of Regent unanimously approved a plan to eliminate its SAT/ACT requirement, voting instead to create its own test, to be implemented by 2025. Under the plan, the system would remain test-optional for two years, after which the SAT and ACT would not be considered in the admissions process. The test would still be used to award scholarships and to determine course placement.
Instead, the system said it would create a new standardized test to replace the SAT and ACT, to be implemented by 2025. If the system was unable to successfully implement a new test, then it would remain test-blind .
Following the unanimous vote, in late August, a California State Court Judge Brad Seligman issued a preliminary injunction preventing the UC from using standardized tests, including the SAT and ACT, as part of its admissions decisions. Judge Seligman argued that the test-optional policies still disadvantaged students with disabilities, as they lacked access to testing centers with accommodations during COVID-19.
The system appealed the decision and was granted a temporary stay, allowing the UC to use the tests as part of the admissions process for the time being.
On October 29, the First District Court of Appeal in San Francisco lifted the stay, meaning the UC would no longer be permitted to use standardized tests as part of the process. This ruling went into effect immediately, such that the nine schools that comprise the UC would be test-blind for fall 2020 applicants.
The UC schools reached a settlement on a different lawsuit filed in 2019, making admissions test-blind on any applications received from Fall 2021 to Spring 2025.
“Test blind has the virtue of sending a straightforward signal that biased tests are worthless as measures of merit,” Joseph A. Soares, a Wake Forest University professor, and Jay Rosner, executive director of the Princeton Review Foundation, declared in Inside Higher Ed following Judge Seligman’s initial ruling.
Critics of standardized testing have voiced their concerns that the SAT and ACT are biased against low-income and minority students. They contend that the tests are inequitable because students from affluent families can pay for test prep sessions, allowing them to raise their scores through expensive tutoring, while many of their peers are not. Further, because standardized test scores have historically been heavily weighted in college admissions, inequitable tests are said to lead to discrepancies in racial representation on college campuses.
Latino students represent 51.2% of high school graduates in California, but only 28.9% of UC students. Additionally, Black students represent 5.7% of high school graduates, but only 4.7% of UC students. When considering individual schools within the UC system, it is the most prestigious schools that show the largest gaps in representation. Notably, UCLA has 21% Latino students and 3% Black students and UC Berkeley has 21.4% Latino students and 3.7% Black students.
While the UC system has made strides toward equal opportunity through its decision to go test-blind, UC is not alone. Even with less drastic representation discrepancies, the California State University (CSU) system has also decided to extend its test-blind policy until 2023. The CSU student body is 49.7% Latino students, showing a less extreme representation gap than that of the UC system. The gap in Black representation, however, is comparable to that of the UC system with Black students comprising only 4.3% of the student body.
It is important to address the reasoning behind having test-blind admissions as compared to test-optional admissions. According to CollegeVine’s data, in test-optional admissions, students who submit scores are accepted at a higher rate than those who don’t—even if their scores are below the 25th percentile of admitted students at a given school. With that, test-optional admissions does not address the issue of inequity.
In addition to racial inequity, it is important to note that students with disabilities are also often at a disadvantage when taking standardized tests, even if they receive accommodations like additional time.