SAT, ACT Officials Tell of Changes to Satisfy UC

Representatives of the SAT and ACT college admissions tests briefed University of California regents on possible changes to meet UC demands, including adding writing samples to the exams.

The regents, meeting this week at UCLA, appeared satisfied with the proposals, and a faculty representative said the willingness of the test-makers to change their products means UC will not have to develop its own admissions test.

The regents are not expected to vote on the issue until July at the earliest. Any change would not affect students until the class entering in 2006. The proposals stem from a call by UC President Richard C. Atkinson last year for the university to stop using the SAT in its admissions.

In March, representatives of the College Board, which owns the SAT, said they might beef up the math section, add a writing sample and replace the analogies portion with questions measuring analytical reading skills.

Richard Ferguson, president of Iowa-based ACT Inc., told the regents fewer changes would be required in the curriculum-based test, but said an essay would be added to meet the UC’s needs.