17.8% of UC Freshmen Fail Intro Math, Double the Rate Since SAT Was Dropped
October 20, 2026 · Frisian News
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Nearly one in five University of California freshmen failed to pass introductory math in 2025-26, according to EdSource data, up from 9.2% in 2020-21, the last year SAT and ACT scores were required for admission.
17.8% of University of California freshmen failed to pass introductory math in 2025-26, according to EdSource data reported by the New York Post. That is nearly double the 9.2% recorded in 2020-21, the last academic year in which the UC system required SAT and ACT scores for admission.
The climb was not gradual. EdSource data show the failure rate jumped to 13% in 2021-22, the first admissions cycle without mandatory test scores, before easing slightly to 12.6% the following year. It rose to 15.3% in 2023-24, dipped to 14.9% in 2024-25, then hit its highest recorded level in 2025-26. The courses counted in the figures range from calculus and precalculus to preparatory classes in algebra and trigonometry.
The gap between campuses is wide. UC Merced recorded the worst result, with 36.4% of freshmen failing to pass in 2025-26, more than double its rate of roughly 16% five years earlier, EdSource data show. UC Riverside's rate jumped from about 8% the previous year to roughly 20%. UC Santa Cruz rose from around 12% to approximately 19%. UC Santa Barbara came in lowest at 8.2%, while UC Berkeley and UCLA reported rates near 13% and 11%, respectively.
Joel Hass, a mathematics professor at UC Davis, told the New York Post the results were unsurprising. "There is a wider range of interest and preparedness," he said. "We still have a good number of highly qualified students, but also many who are unprepared for college. The preparedness gap between these groups is large." Hass said some instructors were being asked to offer remedial courses covering material students should have mastered years earlier.
The K-12 pipeline explains where the gap starts. Just 38.4% of California pupils achieved math proficiency in 2025-26, below the 39.7% recorded in 2018-19, according to state results. California spent roughly $134 billion on K-12 schools from all sources in 2025-26, or about $26,450 per student, the nonpartisan Legislative Analyst's Office reported. Hass called the situation a scandal: "The state now sends students who might thrive by first going to the community colleges to UC campuses where they are unprepared for a serious academic environment."
More than 1,400 UC faculty, mostly in STEM fields, signed a letter in June urging the system to reinstate SAT or ACT requirements for science, technology, engineering and math applicants, citing "severe" math deficits among incoming students. "Over the past five years, we have seen a widening divergence in mathematical preparation levels within the same classroom," the faculty wrote. "Current admissions practices do not provide a sufficiently reliable check on mathematical readiness for STEM majors." UC remains test-blind for current applicants, with a formal review due to conclude by June 2027 and Board of Regents recommendations expected in autumn 2027.
Sonja Shaw, a Republican candidate for California state superintendent of public instruction, was blunt. "Dropping the SAT and ACT has let far too many students arrive unprepared for even introductory math," she told the New York Post. She argued the near-doubled failure rate showed schools were advancing pupils without verifying that they had mastered basic skills.
Hass rejected the argument that standardized tests block disadvantaged students. "SAT and ACT tests can open doors for talented students who have suffered from poor instruction in poor quality schools," he said. He suggested that some admitted students would benefit more from building their foundations at a community college before transferring to a UC campus.
The people who scrapped the test will review their decision in autumn 2027.
Published October 20, 2026 · Frisian News