Author: Doug Ose

It’s a great thing that every business owner in America has the freedom to choose where to operate their business.  Some individuals choose to be

The University of California Board of
Admissions and Relations with Schools (BOARS) is at it again, attempting to
slowly erode the high academic standards required for admission to this most
prestigious network of public universities.  

For some reason, BOARS is recommending to
the Board of Regents that the school "signal" to applicants to not take the new
SAT test for admission to the UC system. This comes less than two years after
the Board of Regents lowered the admission requirements for UC schools
by eliminating the use of the SAT II Subject Tests and just eight
years after using scarce university resources to help create the new SAT in the
first place.

The available evidence shows
a significant correlation between an applicant’s success on the SAT
and success in the university environment, and since this correlation is
recognized by BOARS, it is unclear why some wish to no longer use it as a
screening tool.  If the desired effect was an effort to increase the
number of eligible applicants to the UC system, it is certainly
unnecessary. Applications are already at historic highs.

The University of California Board of Regents is considering a set of sweeping changes to the UC system’s admissions criteria. Among the proposed changes is the elimination of SAT Subject Tests as an admissions requirement. Unlike the more comprehensive SAT, subject tests are focused on one of 20 different academic areas ranging from physics and chemistry to languages and fine art.

Critics of subject tests argue for maintaining high academic standards and promoting diversity. A closer look tells a different story, one the regents and the UC Board of Admissions and Relations with Schools (BOARS), which proposed the changes, aren’t talking about.

A September 2008 report from the National Association for College Admission Counseling noted that, “there are tests that, at many institutions, are more predictive of first-year and overall grades in college and more closely linked to the high school curriculum, including the College Board’s AP exams and Subject Tests.” Eliminating subject tests in light of this research defies common sense.