{"id":2510991,"date":"2025-11-15T15:26:02","date_gmt":"2025-11-15T20:26:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/uc-san-diego-freshmen-not-prepared-for-college-level-math-writing-classes\/"},"modified":"2025-11-15T15:29:57","modified_gmt":"2025-11-15T20:29:57","slug":"uc-san-diego-freshmen-not-prepared-for-college-level-math-writing-classes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/uc-san-diego-freshmen-not-prepared-for-college-level-math-writing-classes\/","title":{"rendered":"UC San Diego freshmen not prepared for college-level math, writing classes"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">22<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fuc-san-diego-freshmen-not-prepared-for-college-level-math-writing-classes%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2510991&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>A recent report from the University of California, San Diego reveals that many incoming freshmen are not adequately prepared for college-level math and writing courses. This issue is widespread across most UC campuses, not just UC San Diego. The report highlights a significant increase in freshmen who failed to meet middle-school math proficiency standards between 2020 and 2025, despite <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\" >completing required high school math classes<\/a>. Additionally,many students needing remedial math also require remedial writing support.<\/p>\n<p>The report attributes these preparedness gaps to factors including learning loss during the COVID-19 pandemic, the elimination of standardized tests like the SAT and ACT from admissions criteria, grade inflation, and broader admissions from under-resourced high schools. While UC San Diego emphasizes its mission to support all students, the report warns of limited capacity to assist those with large academic gaps.<\/p>\n<p>Contrastingly, the California Department of Education recently announced increases in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/4-key-policy-areas-where-the-democratic-leadership-and-black-voters-disagree\/\" title=\"4 Key Policy Areas Where The Democratic Leadership And Black Voters Disagree\">high school graduation rates<\/a> and college and career readiness statewide. However, this rise in graduation and readiness metrics does not align with the reported decline in actual college preparedness.<\/p>\n<p>Additional studies, such as one by the Public policy Institute of California, corroborate the finding that fewer California high school graduates are truly college-ready, with only 22% meeting college readiness standards based on standardized testing in 2024. Other universities and education organizations in California have not yet responded to requests for comment on these findings.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><\/p>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-header-search-button-mob dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search\" aria-labelledby=\"td-header-search-button\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search-inner\">\n<form method=\"get\" class=\"tdb-search-form\" action=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\"><\/form>\n<div class=\"tdb-aj-search\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/#\" role=\"button\" aria-label=\"Search\" class=\"tdb-head-search-btn dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<h1 class=\"tdb-title-text\">UC San Diego freshmen not prepared for college-level math, writing classes: Report<\/h1>\n<div><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-title-line\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div id=\"Brid_2401794\" class=\"tpd-featured-video bridtv\"><\/div>\n<p>(The Center Square) &ndash; A&nbsp;<a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/senate.ucsd.edu\/media\/740347\/sawg-report-on-admissions-review-docs.pdf\">new report<\/a>&nbsp;by the University of <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/california\/\">California<\/a>, San Diego found freshmen are nowhere near ready for college math and writing classes.<\/p>\n<p>The problem isn&rsquo;t isolated to new <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/students\/\">students<\/a> at the southernmost <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/colleges-and-universities\/\">University<\/a> of California campus, either. The report by the university&rsquo;s Academic Senate Working Group on Admissions shows that this is a persistent problem at most UC campuses.<\/p>\n<div class=\"recommended-stories\">\n<h2>Recommended Stories<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/policy\/education\/3888443\/school-district-drops-appeal-gender-ideology-ruling\/\">School district drops appeal of gender ideology ruling<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/policy\/education\/3888433\/attorneys-urge-tennessee-school-allow-christian-clubs\/\">Attorneys urge Tennessee school to allow Christian clubs<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/policy\/education\/3887647\/glenn-youngkin-abigail-spanberger-spar-uva-president-selection\/\">Youngkin and Spanberger spar over UVA president selection<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-paywall\">\n<p>&ldquo;Admitting large numbers of underprepared students risks harming those students and straining limited instructional resources,&rdquo; the report reads. &ldquo;We can only help so many students, and only when the gaps they need to overcome are within reach.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>According to the report, the number of freshmen at UC San Diego who did not meet middle-school proficiency standards in mathematics increased nearly 30 times between 2020 and 2025, despite students having taken the required high school math classes.<\/p>\n<p>The report goes on to say that in 2024, two out of five students who needed to take <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/trump-isnt-destroying-harvard-harvard-has-destroyed-itself\/\" title=\"Trump Isn&#039;t Destroying Harvard. Harvard Has Destroyed Itself\">remedial math classes<\/a> also had to take remedial writing classes.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;UC San Diego is proud to be a leading public university that serves not only the privileged few but the full spectrum of California&rsquo;s population,&rdquo; the report goes on to say. &ldquo;If we take seriously our mission as an engine of social mobility, we must be prepared to support students who have been underserved by their prior schooling. But our capacity is not limitless. We can only help so many students, and only when the gaps they need to overcome are within reach.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>The report&rsquo;s authors were not available to answer questions from The Center Square on Friday. Other officials who work at UC San Diego also did not respond to The Center Square&rsquo;s request for comment.<\/p>\n<p>Despite the gap between the student proficiency in math and writing and what is required of them to be successful in college, the California Department of Education&nbsp;<a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cde.ca.gov\/nr\/ne\/yr25\/yr25rel49.asp\">issued a press release<\/a>&nbsp;on Thursday that shows that across the state, high school graduation rates have risen, up to 87.5%, more than four points over the 2017 statewide rate. Notably, the department also claimed that college and career readiness went up by 3.1% statewide, reaching 51.7% across the state.<\/p>\n<p>The press release accompanied the publication of the state&rsquo;s&nbsp;<a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.caschooldashboard.org\/\">2025 School Dashboard<\/a>, which the state publishes every year, reflecting high school graduation rates and other key information for schools, school districts, cities, and counties across the state.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Seeing modest improvement on every dashboard indicator should encourage us to deepen our investments in every child&rsquo;s progress,&rdquo; said Tony Thurmond, state superintendent of public instruction, in the press release. &ldquo;We can see that strategies like community schools and literacy coaches are making a positive impact for the whole child. I am proud of our work to narrow persistent achievement gaps in student outcomes like graduation rate, and we must not rest until all students&rsquo; outcomes represent their brilliance and potential.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>The California Department of Education did not respond to calls or emails from The Center Square asking for comment about why high school graduation rates and college readiness rates are up when proficiency in college classes is down.<\/p>\n<p>The UC San Diego report released this month also found that chief among the reasons freshmen aren&rsquo;t prepared for college is how much learning outcomes dropped amongst children who <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/dont-sell-your-shoes-j-j-watt-steps-up-offers-to-help-a-fan-pay-for-her-grandpas-funeral\/\" title=\"\u2018Don\u2019t Sell Your Shoes\u2019: J.J. Watt Steps Up, Offers To Help A Fan Pay For Her Grandpa\u2019s Funeral\">attended high school<\/a> during the COVID-19 pandemic. The elimination of using standardized tests like the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT), the American College Test (ACT) for college admissions, grade inflation and expanding college admissions to include students from under-resourced high schools have all contributed to the rising number of college students not being prepared for college, the report found.<\/p>\n<p>No school district with at least one high school in the San Diego area replied to The Center Square&rsquo;s requests for comment.<\/p>\n<p>Another report, this one compiled by the&nbsp;<a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ppic.org\/publication\/college-readiness-in-california\/\">Public Policy Institute of California<\/a>,&nbsp;also found that college students in California are, by and large, underprepared for higher education. Their April 2025 report shows that students were not as college-ready in 2024 as they were five years before, pointing to a drop of three points from 2019 to 2024.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Academic preparation is key to college readiness. Students who score &lsquo;Standard Met&rsquo; for both reading and math on the grade 11 exams are defined as college ready,&rdquo; the Public Policy Institute report reads. &ldquo;In 2024, only 22% of California graduates were rated college ready based on their standardized test scores.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p><strong><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/opinion\/columnists\/3884916\/threat-overproduced-elite-higher-education\/\">THE THREAT OF AN OVERPRODUCED ELITE<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Other colleges and universities throughout the state, including San Diego State University; the University of San Diego; University of California, Los Angeles; University of California, Berkeley; University of California, Santa Barbara; University of California, Irvine; University of California, Davis, and California Polytechnical State University, San Luis Obispo did not respond to The Center Square on Friday.<\/p>\n<p>The California School Boards Association also did not respond to a request for comment.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>UC San Diego freshmen unprepared for college math, writing: report<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2869,"featured_media":2510992,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/AP22025477566580.jpg?w=696","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33651],"tags":[67136,24095,67137,67135,67138],"class_list":["post-2510991","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-western-journal","tag-college-readiness","tag-freshmen","tag-math-education","tag-uc-san-diego","tag-writing-skills"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/AP22025477566580.jpg?w=696","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2510991","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2869"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2510991"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2510991\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2510995,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2510991\/revisions\/2510995"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2510992"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2510991"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2510991"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2510991"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}