In all, 138,763 California class of 2026 students took the SAT, up 12.6% from the prior year — and the largest gain in three years — according to data released Tuesday from the College Board, the nonprofit organization that develops and proctors the SAT.
Though the UC and California State University systems do not use the SAT or other standardized tests in admissions decisions, an increasing number of universities have reinstated testing requirements after many suspended them during the height of the pandemic, including the University of Texas, all Ivy League schools, Stanford and Caltech.
Priscilla Rodriguez, the College Board’s senior vice president of College Readiness Assessments, said that shift probably contributed to the increase in California test takers.
“They want to have a score to keep all these options open,” Rodriguez said, adding that the College Board has also done more to make the test more readily available.
Six years after dropping the SAT and ACT, the University of California is weighing a return to standardized testing following intense pressure from faculty who say incoming students lack basic math and reasoning skills.