UC San Diego reported a dramatic surge in incoming first-year students requiring remedial math—more than a tenfold increase over five years—prompting new course design and placement strategies. The university’s Senate–Administration working group cites pandemic learning loss, grade inflation, and expanded admissions from under-resourced high schools as drivers. In response, UC San Diego created remedial courses targeting middle‑school and high‑school gaps and restructured placement to catch deeper deficiencies. The report notes that arithmetic and algebra deficits are now prevalent even among students with strong high‑school GPAs. Admissions offices, remedial program directors and STEM departments should coordinate to expand bridge offerings, revamp placement assessments, and invest in early outreach to feeder schools to arrest further decline in college‑level readiness.