College Board: the bane of every high schoolers existence. We think we need it, but we know we hate it. College Board tests are pretty much mandatory for anyone who wants to go to college, which results in people ignoring the issues. If someone has a problem with it, there’s not much he/she can do. But, quite frankly, senior year has made me sick of College Board’s exploitation of students.
The main issue that I have with College Board is that they’re a nonprofit organization that makes an insane profit. Between SAT exam fees and AP exam fees, College Board can take a huge chunk out of a student’s paycheck. Taking two tests will cost a student almost $200. I know that taking these exams is a choice, but it almost feels like there isn’t one because high AP exam and SAT scores result in a greater chance of college acceptance. I know there are test waivers for people who qualify for them, but, ultimately, no one should be charged that much to take a test. I also know that the people who grade these tests need to be paid, but College Board made a $62 million dollar profit from their $200 million dollar revenue in 2014. That’s a lot of money for an organization that is registered as a nonprofit.
Since College Board controls both the SAT, SAT Subject tests and AP exams, one company almost has a monopoly over college entrance exams, in a sense dictating who gets into college and who doesn’t based off of scores and statistics. This can be a good thing, since having many scores under one company standardizes it, but there have been arguments that the SAT is not truly standardized. Every time the test is administered, it has different questions, and the level of difficulty can not be standardized, even with a curve.
Thankfully, Dual Enrollment courses, which compete with AP classes, are becoming more and more popular. Additionally, the ACT competes with the SAT, giving students more test options based on their own strengths. Many colleges have even become test optional, which means students do not have to take these tests in order to apply.
Ultimately, all College Board does is give wealthy students more advantages than they already have. I’m sick of paying exam fees and putting my entire future into the hands of a single test score. College Board needs to be fixed, or at least register as a for profit company.
