School Information System

Steve McGuire summarizes the UCSD report.

As a major cause at UCSD in particular, they point to a significant increase in students admitted from “Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF)” schools, which are “California public schools in which more than 75 percent of the school’s total enrollment is composed of students who are identified as either eligible for free or reduced-price meals, or English learners, or foster youth.”

Students from these LCFF+ schools make up a large chunk of those students needing remedial classes:

More.

Grok summary:

Introduction: This 54-page report, released on November 6, 2025, by the Senate-Administration Working Group on Admissions (SAWG) at UC San Diego, examines a sharp decline in incoming freshmen’s academic preparation—especially in math and writing—over the past five years. Driven by factors like the COVID-19 pandemic, the end of standardized testing, grade inflation, and increased enrollment from under-resourced high schools, the report warns that admitting underprepared students risks their success and strains university resources. It analyzes trends, admissions processes, and prior fixes, then proposes targeted recommendations to better align admissions with student readiness and institutional capacity, emphasizing math remediation, holistic reviews, and systemwide reforms.10 Most Obvious Points

1. Severe Math Decline: From 2020–2025, students needing below-middle-school-level math remediation (Math 2/3B) surged nearly 30-fold at UC San Diego, affecting about 1 in 8 incoming freshmen in 2025, despite most having completed required high school math with good grades.
2. Writing Challenges Persist: Around 19% of incoming students require remedial writing courses (AWP 3/4A), stable since 2018 but linked to national literacy declines; in 2024, 41% of remedial math students also needed writing help.
3. Pandemic Impact: COVID-19 disrupted K-12 education, widening preparation gaps, especially in quantitative skills, with effects lingering post-2020.
4. No Standardized Tests: Eliminating SAT/ACT requirements since 2020 has made it harder to gauge readiness, contributing to mismatched admissions.
5. Grade Inflation and Under-Resourced Schools: High GPAs from Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF+) high schools often don’t reflect skills, leading to over-admission of underprepared students.
6. Enrollment Growth: UC San Diego’s undergraduate population expanded rapidly, amplifying the influx of underprepared students.
7. Holistic Review Process: Admissions use a 1–5 score based on academics, extracurriculars, and context, but it under-predicts math/writing needs, especially for quantitative majors.
8. Portfolio Use in Arts: Portfolios aid arts admissions but lack feedback loops, causing inconsistencies in evaluating creative readiness.
9. 2025 Fixes Fell Short: Last-minute efforts, like flagging low-math-risk students, reduced but didn’t solve the problem for the incoming class.
10. Urgent Recommendations: Implement a “Math Index” to predict remediation needs, cap remedial enrollments at 300 by 2026–27, require early summer placement tests, and reassess major math requirements.

10 Substantive but Least Obvious Matters

1. Interlinked Deficiencies: Math and writing gaps are increasingly correlated—e.g., in 2024, 2 in 5 severe math-deficient students also needed remedial writing, up from prior years, suggesting broader analytical skill erosion.
2. UCSD-Specific Surge: While all UCs saw declines, UC San Diego’s remedial math enrollment grew 10x faster than systemwide averages, tied to 25% higher in-state admissions from LCFF+ schools compared to peers like UCLA.
3. Placement Test Evolution: UC San Diego’s post-2023 Writing Placement Process (WPP) incorporates student self-assessment and unproctored essays, differing from the old systemwide AWPE, but it hasn’t stemmed the 19% placement rate rise.
4. Math Index Mechanics: The proposed index would use transcript data (courses, grades, high school) and historical placements to score risk, integrated into major matching—e.g., steering high-risk students toward B.A. over B.S. tracks with lighter math loads.
5. High School Feedback Loops: Recommendations urge direct outreach to mismatched schools (e.g., those with 80%+ A/B grades but 50%+ placement failures) to audit curricula and curb inflation, potentially via joint workshops.
6. Major Shaping Nuances: Admissions “shape” classes by reserving spots (e.g., 70% capped for biology), but low holistic scores (1–2) from underprepared applicants inflate waitlists, indirectly boosting remedial loads in uncapped majors like social sciences.
7. Summer Bridge Potential: Beyond tests, pair early remediation with mandatory summer “boot camps” for at-risk students, leveraging data showing 20–30% skill gains from similar programs at other UCs.
8. Faculty Role Expansion: The Committee on Admissions (CoA) should lead annual Math Index recalibrations and post-cycle audits, including correlating holistic scores with 4-year graduation rates to refine equity adjustments.
9. Systemwide Grading Probe: Advocate UC-wide calibration of high school GPAs using common benchmarks (e.g., IB/AP equivalencies), as variations—e.g., 0.5 GPA inflation in LCFF+ districts—disproportionately affect selective campuses.
10. Standardized Test Revival Case: While not mandating return, the report cites peer data (e.g., MIT/Caltech reinstatements correlating with 15% better placement predictions) and urges BOARS to study feasibility, balancing access with reliability.