More than 800 University of California math professors and department chairs urged UC system leaders to reinstate SAT/ACT requirements for applicants to STEM majors, citing widening gaps in mathematical preparation. In an open letter, they point to UC San Diego reporting that the share of students with math skills below middle-school level has surged nearly 30-fold since 2020. Faculty describe classroom impacts as severe: instructors reportedly must reteach middle-school mathematics while simultaneously covering material students need for sciences, engineering, economics, and other quantitative fields. UC officials said the system will continue strengthening math instruction, collaboration, and support, and UC’s Academic Senate board chair said he has heard preparedness concerns and called on admissions leadership to address readiness topics in admissions processes. With the systemwide admissions board scheduled to meet June 5, the letter elevates a high-stakes question: whether standardized testing should be restored as an admissions tool for readiness in a system that suspended those requirements. For universities nationally, the dispute is likely to influence how admissions signals and remedial support are managed under tighter outcomes accountability.