GOOD IDEA: Don’t make us reteach middle-school math, say STEM profs at ‘test-free’ UC.

Bring back the SAT/ACT testing requirement for University of California admissions, says an open letter signed by more than 360 STEM professors. Would-be STEM majors are being admitted with “preparation gaps so severe that instructors must reteach middle-school mathematics while simultaneously teaching the material students need for sciences, engineering, economics, and other quantitatively demanding fields.”

The number of incoming students with very low math skills has increased nearly thirtyfold, a UC San Diego report warned the Board of Regents. All the UC campuses are seeing many more unprepared students, including those who want to major in technical fields, the letter states. “Failing to measure preparation gaps does not remove barriers; it moves them into the classroom, where they become harder to overcome.”

Why not? Yale did it.