University of California votes to stop using SAT and ACT exams

The University of California announced that within the next five years, the SAT and ACT standardized tests would be phased out from its admissions requirements. The Final Round panel discuss the impact this will have on the college admissions process and on the education industry.

Video Transcript

AKIKO FUJITA: Let's go to the education space right now because we've got some big news coming out of the University of California, announcing yesterday that they will be phasing out the SAT and ACT testing. And that's been raising a lot of questions about what this means for the college testing industry, certainly big money for these prep schools who are promising for good test results with the SAT.

Melody, I want to bring you into the conversation because I know earlier on in this crisis, you did speak with Janet Napolitano, who is, of course, the president of the UC system. You said that they had already been looking at phasing this out, but this really takes it in a whole other direction, especially given the size of the UC system.

MELODY HAHM: Yeah, so President Napolitano, starting in 2018, was really investigating whether all the UC schools should be requiring standardized tests. And then last month, they did make the decision that all high school juniors would be exempt. So they do not need to submit their ACT, SAT scores in order to apply to any of the US schools. I had a feeling, I had an inkling that perhaps it could be extrapolated further, just as this pandemic has upended the entire system.

One thing I do want to point out, though, Akiko, is that over the last, I would say 15 years, there has been this growing trend of eliminating the need to submit your standardized test score. One of the key reasons being it is for the privilege. You just mentioned a lot of those test prep programs, whether it's the Kaplans of the world.

Even Andrew Yang started his career by being the CEO of Manhattan Prep School. That is a very privileged, luxurious opportunity to be able to invest extra capital, extra money, extra time to really bolster those scores. And one of the key findings I found is that actually 40% of all accredited schools now do not require the SAT or ACT. So I think the pandemic, just like with all other industries, it merely accelerated this trend that we had already been seeing.

AKIKO FUJITA: And is the idea to develop another kind of testing that is a little more thorough in that it does address the issues that you pointed to, which is bias against sort of minorities, as well as those who are not able to pay for these testing prep courses?

MELODY HAHM: Yeah, so the stipulation that Napolitano actually laid out is they have four years to develop a new test, a new sort of robust, comprehensive test that doesn't feel kind of random or something that you have to dedicate so much free time to, that's something your actual education would be able to help you prepare for. If they do not come up with a test in those four years, then basically there would be no test required.

JEN ROGERS: Guess what? It's going to be really hard to come up with a test that everybody agrees on. That is-- that's my take on that. I think it's important to point out that this was a unanimous decision. It was 23 to zero. I think there is not-- there's just no love for this test in-- among the higher education. We all have seen what happened with Varsity Blues, the college admission scandal.

As they say, it's a proxy for privilege. It's broken. And again, I think that unanimous decision really shows how many people are against testing, I think. I mean, it's going to be so hard for them to figure out something that everybody can agree on.

MELODY HAHM: Yeah, and Jen, one thing that I'm curious about and something that was very interesting, you know, personally speaking, I applied to Bowdoin. Bowdoin did not require SAT, ACTs. But one of their key stats that they touted was that 96% of applicants submitted their scores, which shows that the kinds of schools that you apply to that require the test, that means you have to prepare for the test anyway, right? And there may be a chance that you performed well if you spent a lot of time preparing for it. So how much does this really change whether students have to prepare for the test or not? I'm not quite sure. That still is up in the air.

AKIKO FUJITA: Well, I guess the broader question here is, is this the start of a reassessment of the college entrance system that has been in place, right? SAT and ACT has certainly been a big part of it. But you think this is a lead to a broader conversation about being-- you know, what needs to be done to be more inclusive in some of these universities?

MELODY HAHM: Yeah, and that's the same question you asked even when we're talking about Facebook jobs and the future of recruiting, right? Where are the pockets of opportunity, especially-- I mean, this fall at least will be very much a hybrid system for most universities and colleges.

I spoke with a UCLA professor a couple days ago, and he actually said this is a great time for students to be applying to their reach schools and actually having a good chance of getting in. Because this is a time where you can actually show your creativity, what you've got-- even if it's very marginal, just something interesting you've done, something creative you've been able to produce.

And even Janet Napolitano, in our interview, she echoed that sentiment. She said this-- she's like, I don't mean to sound trite, but creativity thrives in chaos, and never let a crisis go to waste. So if that's any sort of call to action for current students, of course that can be even more daunting and stressful because there is just this latent level of anxiety of the unknown. But I think it could be a net positive for a lot of these students who are trying to figure out a way to differentiate themselves and not be put in a box.

AKIKO FUJITA: Yeah, no question, students have had a lot of time to think about this, right? A lot of these universities closed since March, and they've got all summer. So we'll see what they come up with.