UCLA student retention and graduation rates have increased since the University of California stopped considering standardized test scores in undergraduate admissions, administrators said during the UC Board of Regents’ Wednesday meeting.

The administrators’ presentation came amid increased scrutiny of the UC’s test-free admissions policy, which was implemented in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic, over faculty concerns that students’ academic preparation has declined. The regents announced in July that the UC Academic Senate will decide whether or not to recommend reinstating SAT and ACT requirements for undergraduate admissions by June 2027.

[Related: Hundreds of UC faculty call to reinstate SAT, ACT requirements for STEM applicants]

The share of UCLA applicants in the top 9% of their California high school class also increased after the UC went test-blind, said Gary Clark, the associate vice chancellor of enrollment management at UCLA.

“That trend suggests that many students had been deterred from even applying to UC when the test was an admissions requirement,” said Jonathan Glater, a UC Berkeley School of Law professor.

The current data is a contrast to the 2020 predictions of the Standardized Testing Task Force, which the UC Academic Council created in 2019 to assess whether the UC should stop requiring standardized test scores, Glater said. The task force predicted lower grades and graduation rates after implementing a test-free policy, he added.

While average first-year grades have remained consistent since 2020, introductory math grades have declined, said Pamela Brown, the vice president of institutional research and academic planning at the UC Office of the President, during the UC Academic and Student Affairs Committee’s meeting later Wednesday.

However, Regent Jay Sures said he believes test-free admissions give an advantage to high school students with more resources to take on extracurriculars and receive college essay guidance. Sures added that while he voted to remove the SAT from admissions in 2020, he now believes that decision might have been a mistake.

Regent Michael Cohen called on the administrators to provide more information about the UC’s efforts to strengthen academic preparation within K-12 schools.

“The origins of this problem are definitely in K-12,” Regent Rusty Areias said. “Unless we fix K-12, I don’t care what we do – it’s not going to be successful.”

Beyond testing policies, the regents also said Wednesday that they plan to give all UC campuses access to and training on artificial intelligence computing technology.

The AI Steering Committee, which UC President James Milliken created in March, presented its first report about how the University can ensure each UC campus has equal access to AI tools while addressing the committee’s concerns around security, equity and impacts on local communities.

The University plans to invest in UC-owned AI computers and expand systemwide contracts with AI companies such as Anthropic and OpenAI, said Van Williams, the UC vice president of digital information and technology and co-chair of the AI Steering Committee. He added that the committee wants to create a shared library of educational materials on AI to improve faculty, students and staff’s ability to use AI.

Williams said the UC must minimize inequities by using data centers it already owns and ensuring price is not a barrier for students and faculty to access AI. Currently, data centers’ demand for water and power disproportionately burdens low-income neighborhoods and favors labs and campuses that can afford the costs, he added.

Regent Carmen Chu urged the committee to increase collaboration with local governments, particularly those without the resources to assess potential AI cybersecurity threats.

“If we’re already thinking about these frontier issues and how to protect our institution, we ought to share that pretty openly with many jurisdictions that do not have the resources to put their mind to it,” Chu said.

The committee will give the regents an update on protections against potential AI cybersecurity threats in November.

Giovanni Vigna, a UC Santa Barbara computer science professor and member of the AI Steering Committee, said the regents should consider increasing AI regulation and improving communication around possible AI security threats.

“What we are observing today is that cyber capabilities are growing at a pace that is more than what we can measure and assess in terms of risk,” he said.

Student Regent-designate Jordan Roiland said he believes increased AI integration could harm students’ health, raising concerns about whether they would be able to opt out of using AI.

The AI Steering Committee will hold five conferences across the 10 UC campuses, each addressing different fields that AI impacts – including health, education, ethics, innovation and public policy, Williams said.

“This technology will grow more capable whether or not anyone governs it,” he said. “How it is used, it’s still a choice.”