The University of California released this statement:
The San Francisco Chronicle reported:
UC system to ease admissions requirements; no more SAT, letter-grades: The University of California will temporarily suspend the SAT standardized test requirement for students applying to its campuses for the fall 2021 semester due to the coronavirus outbreak, officials announced Wednesday. UC also will dispense with letter grade requirements for admission. Officials said there will be no rescission of admissions offers due to students or schools missing official final transcript deadlines. “We want to help alleviate the tremendous disruption and anxiety that is already overwhelming prospective students due to COVID-19,” said John A. Pérez, chair of the Board of Regents, which is the governing board for the school system.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Common sense response. Need more of that.
What? This is insane. And utterly irrelevant to the virus.
Why is it insane?
This policy is being implemented in order to help alleviate one source of external worry/pressure for the current cohort of high school juniors. With schools closed for the year, the schedule for SAT, ACT, AP, and IB tests is in disarray, not to mention the related loss of instructional time. There is also the very real threat to family members both medically and financially. Human lives and livelihoods are at stake due to the CoVid-19 pandemic. How anyone could view these connections to the UC policy announcement as irrelevant, is pretty hard to imagine.
This is all about money, as it always is. UC has not been free for the last half a century, it is a business. Students are paying customers. With schools canceled and shelter-in-place, SAT/ACT proctoring is all but impossible. School grades, which would be a fallback, will not be awarded for the rest of the school year. If UC stuck to test scores and school grades as enrollment criteria it would end up with empty halls next academic year. So they figured they accept whoever wants and feels capable. And in the current COVID situation who is going to enroll college? But of course, the more wealthy ones, who are not threatened with layoffs and evictions, who can work remotely (white-collar computer-type jobs), who have savings on their accounts.
As for the scores, this blog has mentioned strong correlation between good scores and wealth.
So you have it: because of the COVID, UC will still get its brighter, wealthier clientele, which it would get anyway in normal conditions with SAT/ACT in place. And they also got good publicity as well. Smart.
One of the best comments that has ever appeared on this blog. It recognizes the reality of the higher education world: the welfare of its employees is the top priority. The college-age cohort is shrinking every year, so it’s inevitable that admissions standards will decline for all but the biggest name schools.
John Webster,
You are wrong. About 70% of professors in higher education are adjuncts, who barely earn a subsistence wage.
I don’t understand your hatred for educators.
I didn’t know colleges were still accepting new applications. Back in the day, people who expected to go to college the following fall were accepted well before the end of their senior year. Back in the dark ages, I wasn’t taking SATs or ACTs the spring of my senior year. That was a task for junior year and at the latest early first semester senior year. The same for all my four kids starting 25 years after I went to college. As the article said, I believe, final grades were used to make sure that already accepted students hadn’t blown off the rest of high school. Yeah, schools are far too expensive since the private sector figured they could do it better (Ha!) and the high muckety mucks want to protect their asse(t)s, but not everyone is eyeing the big bucks or they wouldn’t be trying to make a living teaching.
College applications are due December 31 of the senior year. College acceptance letters, early action/decision excluded, are mailed at the end of March.
The announcement is about those applying for admission in 2021, not 2020.
“Never mind.” (channeling SNL)
So it hasn’t really changed. The entering class finished the application process the end of last year.
“….as it always is…” Yes. 🙂