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UC professors say they’re teaching middle school math after SAT ban

Nypost · · 545 words · By Annie Gaus
University Governance Academic Standards Educational Equity vs. Meritocracy
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UC professors say they’re teaching middle school math after SAT ban See more of our coverage in your search results.

Claims checked 10
Techniques found 2
Topics 3

Coverage spectrum

Coverage gap: Low Left coverage
Left0%
Center67%
Right33%

3 sources compared across this story cluster. This is an eFinder estimate from indexed source coverage, not an editorial rating.

What happened

UC professors say they’re teaching middle school math after SAT ban See more of our coverage in your search results.

Why it matters

Add The California Post on GoogleUniversity of California professors are sounding the alarm on a “severe” lack of math skills among college students — thanks to a decision to ban standardized testing in admissions at the elite universities.

Common ground

More than 600 professors signed an open letter saying they’ve been forced to teach “middle school” math in Calculus and other courses as incoming students are alarmingly unprepared for college-level coursework.

Perspective signals

The tension in the story is sharpened by Loaded Language, Causal Oversimplification: language that can make the dispute feel more urgent, personal, or adversarial than the underlying facts alone.

open_in_new Read the original article: https://nypost.com/2026/05/27/us-news/uc-professors-say-theyre-teaching-middle-s…

psychologyPropaganda Techniques Detected

eFinder identified 2 propaganda techniques in this article. These signals explain how wording, emphasis, or missing context can shape a reader's interpretation.

warning
Loaded Language 80% confidence
Using words with strong emotional connotations to influence an audience.
Found in this article: eFinder flagged this technique because the story's framing or source language may guide readers toward a particular interpretation. Review the claim checks and evidence below to separate what is directly supported from what is implied by wording or emphasis.
Why it matters: Recognizing loaded language helps readers compare the article's framing with the underlying facts and with coverage from other sources.
warning
Causal Oversimplification 70% confidence
Assuming a single cause for a complex issue.
Found in this article: eFinder flagged this technique because the story's framing or source language may guide readers toward a particular interpretation. Review the claim checks and evidence below to separate what is directly supported from what is implied by wording or emphasis.
Why it matters: Recognizing causal oversimplification helps readers compare the article's framing with the underlying facts and with coverage from other sources.

fact_checkClaims Checked

eFinder analyzed this article and checked 10 claims against available evidence, cross-references, web search, and Wikipedia. Here is what the fact-checking layer found.

check_circle Corroborated 5
help Insufficient Evidence 2
info Single Source 2
verified Verified By Reference 1
help
Claim 1: “One in 12 college freshmen were unable to even do middle school math, per the UC San Diego report.”
INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE
No evidence was provided in the search results to confirm the specific ratio of 'one in 12' college freshmen.
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Claim 2: “More than 600 professors signed an open letter saying they’ve been forced to teach “middle school” math in Calculus and other courses”
CORROBORATED
Multiple independent web sources (Amed Post, LetsRun.com, and others) report that a large number of UC professors (ranging from 500 to over 1,000) signed an open letter regarding the need to teach middle school math in college courses.
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Beta Gamma Sigma (ΒΓΣ) is an international business honor society. Founded in 1913 at the University of Wisconsin, University of Illinois and the University of California, it has over 980,000 members,…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beta_Gamma_Sigma
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The University of California (UC) is a public land-grant research university system in the U.S. state of California. Headquartered in Oakland, the system is composed of its ten campuses at Berkeley, …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_California
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The University of California, Irvine (UCI or UC Irvine) is a public land-grant research university in Irvine, California, United States. One of the ten campuses of the University of California system,…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_California,_Irvi…
+ 3 more evidence sources
info
Claim 3: “UC Board of Regents Chair John A. Pérez hailed the move as an “incredible step in the right direction... in May 2020, when the vote was taken.”
SINGLE SOURCE
While the vote in May 2020 is verified, the specific quote and action attributed to John A. Pérez are only mentioned in the context of the provided search results without independent corroboration of the specific quote 'incredible step in the right direction'.
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web search NEUTRAL — May 21, 2020 ... ... UC will eliminate the standardized testing requirement for California students ... New standardized test: Starting in summer 2020 and ending by ...
https://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/press-room/university…
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web search NEUTRAL — 8 days ago ... In 2020, the Board of Regents unanimously voted to suspend standardized testing requirements through 2024 and eliminate them altogether by 2025.
https://www.instagram.com/p/DY_W9konzm5/
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web search NEUTRAL — May 29, 2026 ... Pérez resigned from the Board of Regents in 2024, and Cecilia Estolano's term expired in 2022. And the warnings of the Standardized Testing Task ...
https://www.applerouth.com/blog/why-the-university-of-califo…
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Claim 4: “The letter was jointly authored by UC Berkeley professors Zvezdelina Stankova, Svetlana Jitomirskaya, John W Lott, and Mina Aganagic, all in the mathematics department; and Chris Jay Hoofnagle, a professor of law.”
CORROBORATED
Three independent web search results explicitly name Zvezdelina Stankova, Svetlana Jitomirskaya, John W Lott, and Mina Aganagic as co-authors of the letter.
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — This is a list of women who have made noteworthy contributions to or achievements in mathematics. These include mathematical research, mathematics education, the history and philosophy of mathematics,…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_women_in_mathematics
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web search NEUTRAL — May 27, 2026 · The letter was jointly authored by UC Berkeley professors Zvezdelina Stankova, Svetlana Jitomirskaya, John W Lott, and Mina Aganagic, all in ...
https://nypost.com/2026/05/27/us-news/uc-professors-say-they…
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web search NEUTRAL — 4 days ago · The letter was jointly authored by UC Berkeley math professors Zvezdelina Stankova, Svetlana Jitomirskaya, John W. Lott, and Mina Aganagic ...
https://www.facebook.com/WSJOpinion/posts/the-university-of-…
+ 1 more evidence source
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Claim 5: “Starting in the fall of 2021, University of California hopefuls have not been asked to submit SAT or ACT scores, though they can still submit the scores voluntarily.”
CORROBORATED
Multiple sources confirm that the UC system eliminated the standardized test requirement in 2020, with a transition period making them optional or eliminated for fall 2021 admissions.
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The ACT ( , AY-see-tee; originally an abbreviation of American College Testing) is a standardized test used for college admissions in the United States. It is administered by ACT, Inc., a for-profit …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ACT_(test)
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The SAT ( , ess-ay-TEE) is a standardized test widely used for college admissions in the United States. Since its debut in 1926, its name and scoring have changed several times. For much of its histor…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SAT
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The University of California (UC) is a public land-grant research university system in the U.S. state of California. Headquartered in Oakland, the system is composed of its ten campuses at Berkeley, …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_California
+ 3 more evidence sources
verified
Claim 6: “The professors blamed a 2020 vote by the University of California Board of Regents to stop requiring SAT and ACT scores in admissions”
VERIFIED BY REFERENCE
Web search results and official-sounding reports confirm the UC Board of Regents unanimously approved the removal of SAT/ACT requirements in May 2020.
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — In the United States, a board often governs institutions of higher education, including private universities, state universities, and community colleges. In each US state, such boards may govern eithe…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Governing_boards_of_colleges_a…
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The Regents of the University of California (also referred to as the Board of Regents to distinguish the board from the corporation it governs of the same name) is the governing board of the Universit…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regents_of_the_University_of_C…
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The student regent is a position on the University of California Board of Regents created by a 1974 California ballot proposition, Proposition 4, to represent University of California (UC) students on…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_California_stude…
+ 3 more evidence sources
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Claim 7: “More than 680 professors across the University of California system signed the letter calling upon the Board of Regents to reinstate standardized testing requirements”
CORROBORATED
Multiple sources confirm the existence of the letter and the demand to reinstate standardized testing. While the exact number varies across sources (some say 500, some 1,100), the claim of 'more than 680' is consistent with the reported range of faculty involvement.
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Regents of the University of California v. Bakke, 438 U.S. 265 (1978), was a landmark decision by the Supreme Court of the United States that involved a dispute over whether preferential treatment for…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regents_of_the_University_of_C…
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The University of California, San Francisco (UCSF or UC San Francisco) is a public land-grant research university in San Francisco, California, United States. It is part of the University of Californi…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_California,_San_…
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Agriculture is a significant sector in California's economy, producing nearly US$59.4 billion in revenue in 2023. There are more than 400 commodity crops grown across California, including a significa…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agriculture_in_California
+ 3 more evidence sources
help
Claim 8: “Just 30 of the school’s incoming freshmen had below-high-school-level math skills in 2020. In 2025, that number rose to 900, the report found.”
INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE
No evidence was provided in the search results to confirm the specific numbers (30 in 2020 vs 900 in 2025).
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Claim 9: “Last year, The UC San Diego Senate-Administration Working Group released a shocking report that found a 30-fold increase in students who lacked basic math skills.”
CORROBORATED
Two independent web sources confirm a report by the UC San Diego Senate-Administration Working Group found a near 30-fold increase in students lacking basic math skills.
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — Last year, The UC San Diego Senate-Administration Working Group released a shocking report that found a 30-fold increase in students who lacked basic math skills.
https://nypost.com/2026/05/27/us-news/uc-professors-say-they…
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web search NEUTRAL — A UC San Diego Senate–Administration working group report found a near‑30‑fold rise in incoming students placing below middle‑school math levels over five years, with remedial math enrollment surging …
https://hied.news/uc-san-diego-flags-dramatic
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web search NEUTRAL — The UC San Diego report should serve as a reminder that academic preparation still matters, even in a test-optional world. With the right tutoring support, students can close learning gaps, strengthen…
https://www.ajtutoring.com/blog/new-report-from-uc-san-diego…
info
Claim 10: “the prestigious university system, which serves more than 280,000 students statewide and receives approximately $5 billion from the state budget to support its operations.”
SINGLE SOURCE
The specific figures (280,000 students and $5 billion state budget) appear in one web search result but are not corroborated by other independent sources or Wikipedia in the provided evidence.
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — Historically, CDU received State funds through the. University's budget for ... Altogether, the State provided nearly $170 million in funding above the ...
https://www.ucop.edu/operating-budget/_files/rbudget/2025-26…
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web search NEUTRAL — May 27, 2026 ... ... receives approximately $5 billion from the state budget to support its operations. ... students and the University of California system ...
https://nypost.com/2026/05/27/us-news/uc-professors-say-they…
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web search NEUTRAL — May 5, 2025 ... ... over federal funding and proposed cuts in California's state budget. ... financial aid, makes up about $11 billion of the system's budget.
https://www.facebook.com/calmatters/posts/the-board-of-regen…
info Disclaimer: This analysis is generated by AI and should be used as a starting point for critical thinking, not as definitive truth. Claims are verified against publicly available sources. Always consult the original article and additional sources for complete context.