Based on a 2021 legal settlement, the University of California system will no longer require SAT and ACT scores for admission.

UC first announced the new policy on April 1, 2020, for incoming freshmen in the fall of 2021, and in May of 2020, the regents board extended the policy for 2022 and 2023.

However, the UC system said it would allow campuses to make the tests optional for freshman admissions for fall 2021 and 2022.  Subsequently, in September 2020, a judge ruled that campuses could not consider scores from students who still chose to submit them.

According to Brad Seligman, the Alameda County Superior Court judge who issued the preliminary injunction in the case of Kawika Smith v. Regents of the University of California, the “test-optional” policy at most UC campuses afforded privileged, non-disabled students a “second look” in admissions.

The University complied with this decision but exhibiting strong disagreement with the court’s decision filed an appeal which was settled in mid-May 2021.  Under the settlement, the university agreed not to consider test scores in admissions or in scholarship decisions for Fall 2022. According to UC’s announcement, The Board of Regents had already decided in May 2020 that SAT or ACT scores would not be considered for fall 2023 admissions and beyond.

The UC statement said scores from the tests may be used for other purposes, such as fulfilling the English subject-matter requirement or course placement.