UC Schools Examine SAT and ACT

The UC schools are examining the SAT and ACT (photo credit: Tristan Harward).

The debate over whether the SAT and ACT are accurate measures of a student’s academic potential in college is one that has raged for decades. Now, the University of California faculty leaders have announced a new study that will be conducted over the course of this next year to measure just how accurate a predictor the SAT and ACT are of college success. And while it’s not like this issue hasn’t been examined in a study before, the move by the University of California leaders signals that the schools may very well soon follow the lead of the University of Chicago, a school that regularly appears near the very top of the “US News & World Report” college rankings, and go test-optional.

UC Schools to Study If SAT and ACT Predict College Success

As Teresa Watanabe reports for “The Los Angeles Times” in a piece entitled “UC faculty leaders announce study on whether SAT and ACT tests accurately predict college success,” “Those who want the nation’s most prestigious public university system to make the standardized tests optional for admissions saw it as a positive sign, though Robert May, the chairman of the UC’s Academic Senate, would not say whether that outcome could result from the review…Those who think such tests should not be required also argue that they automatically place low-income applicants who can’t afford expensive test preparation at a competitive disadvantage. ‘There’s a lot of research about this,’ May said after his announcement at the UC regents meeting at UCLA. ‘We just want to be sure we have the best procedures that are the fairest.’ May said the Academic Senate would study the issue over the course of the school year at the request of UC President Janet Napolitano. In a July letter to faculty leaders, Napolitano said a review of how UC uses the tests and whether any changes were necessary was particularly important now as the university has expanded eligibility for admissions and is experiencing ‘unprecedented growth in demand.'”

Do our readers think this latest study on whether or not — and to what degree — the SAT and ACT predict college success will lead to change at the University of California schools? Will the UC schools choose to go test-optional if the study finds the ACT and SAT are not particularly (or not at all) predictive of college success? Let us know your thoughts on the subject by posting a Comment below. We look forward to hearing from you!