In a historic decision, the University of California Regents voted to suspend SAT and ACT testing requirements for admission through 2024, and completely eliminate them for California students in five years. The UC system is aiming to have its own assessment in place by 2025. The move is aimed at making access to the UC system more equitable for all students. UC officials say it was the culmination of over a decades worth of discussion and research.
"This has been eighteen years in the making," said UC Regent Chair John Perez ,"we think this is going to be a huge step to level the playing field for access to the University of California."
Perez said that the decision will make the UC system more accessible, especially to lower income students.
"There's tremendous evidence that the greatest predictive value of the SAT is the wealth of one's family," said Perez, "if one's family makes over $200k a year, you're likely to score several hundred points higher on the SAT."
While the move was celebrated by supporters, it was also criticized by some who said that the transition would be more time-consuming and punish a segment of students.
"It's a shame, because if you rely on grades, you can't distinguish affluent high schools where grade inflation has been unbelievable," said Bill Evers, Senior Fellow at The Independent Institute," this decision is really biased against hard work, and biased particularly against hard-working Asian-Americans."
Evers cited a report from the Academic Senate that said implementation of a plan like this would take closer to nine years. Evers was critical of the Governor's appointees that voted for the plan.
"It's gotten overloaded with people who have utopian ideas," said Evers, "they dream of painting some vivacious picture on a blank state, but that's not really what a research university is all about."
