California's public universities once did a great job of churning out mostly competent graduates (and the requisite slackers and academics).
The University of California, San Diego (UCSD) has given up that hard-earned reputation for just some Woke points. The Senate and UCSD Admissions Admissions Working Group released report on November 6, detailing the school's complete failure to accept qualified students.
“Over the past five years, UC San Diego has seen a sharp decline in the academic proficiency of incoming first-year students—especially in mathematics, but also in writing and language skills,” the report said.
The figure from the report shows the percentage of students taking remedial math (as of fall 2023) who could solve the given problem.
Results from the UCSD Fall 2023 Math Student Proficiency Test. Percentages refer to the percentage of correct answers. (Screenshot/UCSD)
A quarter of remedial math students cannot solve a first-grade math problem. Almost 10% of remedial math students cannot add integers. Almost 100% of remedial math students cannot solve an eighth grade math problem. (RELATED: INGERSOLL: Universities: Can't read. Can't write. Can't cure cancer. But we can beat the conservatives just fine!)
“Between 2020 and 2025, the number of first-year students whose Mathematics Entrance Test results indicate they do not meet the requirements high school standards have risen almost thirty timesdespite the fact that almost all of these students exceeded the minimum level [University of California Office of The President (UCOP)] required math curriculum and many have high grades. In the incoming class of 2025, this group is approximately one eighth our entire incoming cohort.” (Highlighted not mine).
Problems began brewing in the 2010s but came to a head in 2020. That same year, according to the report, the University of California Board of Regents ignored the recommendations of the Academic Senate's Standardized Testing Task Force (STTF) and voted to remove the SAT and ACT from admissions criteria.
“Beginning with the 2021 cohort, standardized test scores were no longer used in the admissions process. The decision was intended to broaden the pool of applicants based on concerns that otherwise qualified students were prevented from applying due to standardized testing requirements.”
Standardized testing is mercilessly denigrated by those who refuse to accept that some people are smarter than others. And that there are specific means of measuring this difference.
After UCSD removed standardized testing from admissions considerations, applications increased by 18%.
“The elimination of standardized testing has led to greater reliance on grades in high schools, although the STTF report notes a troubling trend of grade increases in many schools that were already significant in 2020. During COVID, grade inflation and declining standards in California high schools have likely accelerated.”
The number of students taking remedial math (Math 2) jumped from 32 in fall 2020 to 665 in fall 2025.
The report attempts to link some of the university's staffing problems to COVID and the response to California's lockdown. This seems a less compelling explanation than eliminating standardized testing, as mentioned, and “expanding enrollment in under-resourced high schools,” as the report puts it.
The report tries to avoid references to racial motivations in admissions. University of California system legally race-neutral.
But the extent to which admissions officers use proxies for race is another matter. Universities appear the state Legislature provided incentives to do so.
“In 2013, the California Legislature enacted a supplemental funding system for California K-12 public schools, called the Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF). The subset of California public schools in which more than 75 percent of the school's total student population consists of students identified as free or reduced price lunch eligible, or English language learners, or foster youth are eligible for supplemental funding through the LCFF program,” the report states.
“English Learners” is an obvious representative of Hispanics. I suspect some minorities are also overrepresented in the set lunch category.
Math 2 population growth by major (2019–2024). (Screenshot/UCSD)
The report puts it in such simple language that a UCSD student can understand it.
“[S]Since 2016, the University of California has been tracking LCFF+ high school enrollment. The UC System's 2016-17 state budget included “one-time funding for services to support low-income students and students from underrepresented minority groups.” The one-time funding was intended to increase applications, admissions and enrollment from LCFF+ high schools to the University of California, a contract signed by then-President Michael Drake.”
“A second appropriation supporting the same legislative priority was provided in the 2019-20 Budget Act.”
Here it is. California included in their state budget funding intended to promote the enrollment of “underrepresented minorities” (presumably non-white and non-Asian applicants) into their university system.
Since standardized testing is excluded, reception officers were free to rely on the so-called “holistic review”.
A comprehensive review involves readers evaluating applications based on the applicant's GPA, essays, extracurricular activities, etc. If the applicant has a last name like “Garcia” or “Sandoval,” that's probably a plus. Coming from a “low income” neighborhood or school will also likely improve a student's chances of admission.
The report acknowledges that while the number of LCFF+ applicants increased slightly between 2019 and 2024, the number admitted The number of LCFF+ students has increased dramatically.
“While application rates remain approximately 1.5 times higher among non-LCFF+ schools, acceptance rates have shifted in favor of LCFF+ applicants during this period. In 2019, the acceptance rate was 58% for LCFF+ students, compared to 64% systemwide for students from better-resourced schools. By 2024, these rates have shifted to 73% for LCFF+ and 71% systemwide.” (RELATED: Laura Ingraham Pressures Trump to Allow Influx of Chinese Students to US)
UCSD has “taken the lead” in enrolling LCFF+ students starting in 2022, “with enrollment jumping from 894 in 2021 to approximately 1,800 in each of the next three years.”
Another potential motivation for the growing wave of (supposedly) Latinos is being acknowledged: UCSD desperately wants to be federally recognized as a “Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI).” The HSI initiative was launched in 2018. To create an HSI, a school must have at least 25% Hispanic students.
Becoming an HSI is one of UCSD's “top priorities.” in accordance with report for 2021. HSI eligible for special grants for education.
So what about these LCFF+ students? Have they proven to be as competent as their non-LCFF counterparts simply by lacking resources?
Not really.
The report argues that the increase in LCFF enrollment has coincided with the pandemic, which is causing “large learning losses in under-resourced schools,” suggesting this is the cause of student disadvantage. Most children will benefit from a good teacher. But smart children make do with bad teachers. Smart children even learn on their own.
Public secondary schools are, for the most part, badly run and provide little benefit.
But for those who want to blame schools for their students' problems, Robert Putnam offers a helpful reminder: “Schools don't create inequality. Schools are where inequality occurs.” https://t.co/JmVTPkiy7K
— Lomes (@L0m3z) November 12, 2025
“When UC San Diego doubled its LCFF+ enrollment in 2022-23, the number of students enrolled in the Math 2 program also nearly doubled, from 191 to 390 (Math 3B was not yet offered at the time). Of this increase, 159 of the 199 additional students (80%) came from LCFF+ schools. In 2023-24, cumulative enrollment in Mathematics 2/3B increased by an additional 100 students, 63 of whom came from LCFF+ schools. Although LCFF+ enrollments fell slightly from 2022 in the following two years, their representation among underprepared students continued to rise sharply.”
By the 2025-2026 school year, one in three LCFF+ students will require remedial math.
UCSD still doesn't get it. The report attributed performance differences between students to pre-existing “social inequalities.” There is a kernel of truth here, if you reverse the cause-and-effect relationship. (RELATED: AIDEN BUZZETTI: Stop blaming COVID-19 for students' poor math and reading scores)
The report bemoans their “current conundrum: To holistically admit a diverse and representative class, we need to admit students who may be at higher risk of not succeeding… The task force acknowledges that there are no simple solutions, but makes recommendations that try to find a middle ground.”
There is a very simple solution. Reinstate standardized testing. Give up on diversity and representation. Restore what's left of your reputation.
Follow Natalie Sandoval on X: @NatSandovalDC
