UCLA students’ grades in introductory math classes have decreased significantly over the past five years, according to data from the UC Board of Regents Academic and Student Affairs Committee.

According to the data, the number of UCLA first-year students who entered as freshmen who received a grade of D or F, withdrew from or did not pass the lowest calculus, precalculus or preparatory mathematics classes increased from 6.2% in the 2020-21 school year to 10.7% in the 2025-26 school year.

Introductory math courses made up 4.3% of first-year lower-division course enrollment at UCLA for the 2025-26 school year.

Across the UC, the percent of first-year students who received a grade of D or F, withdrew from or did not pass an introductory math class was 18% in the 2025-26 school year – up from 13% during the 2020-21 school year, according to the data. Grades for first-year students in other courses, including STEM courses, have remained stable during that same period.

These math classes only make up 5% of first-year lower-division course enrollment at the University, according to the report.

The data comes as the UC Academic Senate considers if it will recommend the regents to reinstate standardized testing requirements for first-year undergraduate admissions. The Academic Senate will make its final recommendation by June 2027.

[Related: UC Academic Senate to decide on recommending SAT, ACT reinstatement by June 2027]

More than 2,300 STEM faculty signed a May letter urging the University to reconsider its standardized testing policy, alleging that students lack math readiness. Social sciences and humanities faculty signed a separate letter in June asking the UC to consider bringing back the verbal reasoning components of standardized tests in admissions decisions.

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

Despite the lower scores in introductory math classes, high school GPAs for UC applicants and admits have increased since 2015, according to the data. In 2015, 52% of students who enrolled in the UC had a high school GPA of 4.00 or higher, compared to 66% in 2025.

First-year retention rates reached an all time high of 93% in 2025 and four-year graduation rates reached 74% in 2021, another record high, per the data.

“By conventional measures, incoming students remain academically strong,” the Academic and Student Affairs Committee said in the report. “These indicators obscure challenges in introductory mathematics.”