A University of California, San Diego working-group report found a dramatic rise in incoming students lacking middle-school level math skills, with remedial math enrollment ballooning nearly 30-fold over five years. The fall 2025 cohort included roughly 11.8% of first-year students in remedial courses after the campus identified gaps that extend back to middle and elementary school. The report attributes the deterioration to pandemic-era learning loss, the elimination of standardized tests at many institutions, grade inflation, and expanded admission from under-resourced high schools. UC San Diego has redesigned remedial offerings—adding a middle-school-level course and a high-school-level remedial option—and is tracking larger resource needs for tutoring and instruction. The findings underscore risks for selective and public universities that have broadened access while shouldering remediation costs. Academic leaders will need to decide whether to adjust admissions criteria, expand bridge programs, or increase developmental supports to protect student progress and degree timelines.