UC Berkeley calculus students now score zero on basic math tests, professor reveals

Zvezdelina Stankova, a mathematics professor at the University of California-Berkeley who earned her PhD from Harvard, has publicly criticized the declining mathematical preparedness of students entering the university. In an op-ed published in the San Francisco Standard, she detailed how the removal of standardized testing requirements has correlated with a dramatic drop in student readiness for college-level calculus. Stankova, who founded the Berkeley Math Circle and a local math olympiad for high school students, described the current admissions process as being less like careful evaluation and more like chance.

Stankova provided specific data from a diagnostic exam administered to Calculus I students. Before 2020, when standardized testing was still part of admissions, 71% of students tested as ready or nearly ready to study calculus, and only 0.14% tested below basic algebra between 2018 and 2020. However, between 2021 and 2023, after testing was removed, the percentage of students ready or nearly ready dropped to 44%. By the 2022-23 academic year, more than one-third of calculus students were classified as having severe math deficits, and the most common score on the diagnostic exam was zero. Stankova noted that some students are five to eight years behind in mathematics, forcing her to use office hours that should be dedicated to discussing integrals to instead teach fractions and basic algebra typically learned in middle school.

The policy change began in 2020 when then-UC president Janet Napolitano, who previously served as Homeland Security Secretary under President Barack Obama, overruled a faculty task force that had recommended keeping entrance exams. Citing COVID-19 pandemic disruptions and equity concerns, testing was made optional later in 2020, and a subsequent court ruling required UC to become test-blind through 2025. While other elite institutions such as Harvard, MIT, Stanford, and Yale also suspended testing requirements during the pandemic, they have since reinstated them. UC Berkeley has moved in the opposite direction, with no new admissions policy expected to take effect before fall 2028.

The consequences of this policy shift extend beyond individual student struggles. Stankova described a bifurcated classroom environment where she must simultaneously teach students who are prepared for calculus and those requiring extremely remedial mathematics. She is among thousands of faculty members who signed open letters earlier in the year calling for the restoration of the SAT and ACT in admissions to ensure that the most qualified students gain entry. UC Berkeley, which admits just 10.5% of applicants, making it one of the most selective public universities in the country, did not respond immediately to requests for comment on Stankova's criticisms.