US EditionStudents at California University without 8th grade math skills skyrockets
UC San Diego reports 18% of incoming students lack Algebra 1 skills, tripling since 2020, linked to pandemic disruptions and K-12 inequities, with remedial enrollment exceeding 900.
- UC San Diego's internal report found the percentage of incoming students scoring below Algebra 1 on placement exams tripled over five years, indicating growing unpreparedness for UCSD's rigor.
- Amid pandemic-era learning loss, the SAWG report links the rise to COVID-19 disruptions, inequities, and elimination of standardized testing.
- Survey data show the share of first-year students placing below Algebra 1 rose from 6 percent in 2020 to 18 percent by 2025, while remedial enrollment climbed to 390 in fall 2022 from 32 in fall 2020.
- UCSD redesigned Math 2 to teach elementary and middle school Common Core topics and proposed the Math Index, recommending placement testing by June 1 for incoming students.
- This dynamic highlights that the SAWG committee warned admitting many profoundly underprepared students risks harming them, with one in three LCFF+ enrollees required Math 2 or 3B by 2025–2026.
13 Articles
13 Articles
A Sad Collapse in Student Preparation at UC San Diego Was Inevitable
When professors at one of the nation’s top public universities start warning that their students can’t do middle-school math or write a coherent paragraph, the rest of us should pay attention. A new faculty report from the University of California–San Diego describes a “steep decline in the academic preparation” of entering freshmen. Between 2020 and 2025, the number of UCSD students whose math skills fall below middle-school level increased nea…
UC San Diego: 1 in 8 Entrants Can't Do Basic Math Despite a Solid GPA
UC San Diego said there is a 30% surge in new entrants who can’t do basic math. Want to bet they know how to protest though? We are being dumbed down. According to Inside Higher Ed, the number of first-year students at the University of California, San Diego, whose math skills fall below a middle […] The post UC San Diego: 1 in 8 Entrants Can’t Do Basic Math Despite a Solid GPA appeared first on www.independentsentinel.com.
UC San Diego Sees Students’ Math Skills Plummet
The number of first-year students at the University of California, San Diego, whose math skills fall below a middle school level has increased nearly 30-fold over the past five years, according to a new report from the university’s Senate–Administration Working Group on Admissions. In the 2025 fall cohort, one in eight students placed into math below a middle school level, despite having a solid math GPA.
Coverage Details
Bias Distribution
- 67% of the sources lean Right
Factuality
To view factuality data please Upgrade to Premium
