Nelson Mandela once said that “Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.” Nowadays, inside the United States, higher education is more important than ever. Attending college is less of a distinctive factor but more of an expectation, with three-quarters of the fastest-growing occupations requiring education beyond a high school diploma. To enter college, many tests are required to be taken, like the SAT, multiple subject tests, and AP exams. Behind the stress of studying and waiting for scores on these tests, however, lies one powerful organization that controls much of the college preparation process. The College Board.
What is the College Board?
The College Board is an organization that creates and administers standardized tests that promote college readiness and are used as part of the college admissions process. It also provides resources and tools to students, parents, and colleges through the form of financial aid, scholarships, recruitment, and admissions.
Why Do Colleges Depend on the College Board?
Colleges can receive tens if not hundreds of thousands of applications every year. There’s often not enough time to sift through each application and read it thoroughly. That’s why colleges depend on the score received on the SAT, SAT subject tests, and AP exams. These scores are numeric values that a school can use to relatively judge where you are academically. Colleges can also use these tests to counter the variation in GPA between schools. A GPA of 4 in one school district may be equivalent to a 5 in another district. Some schools may be harsher in their grading and this could lower the school’s GPA overall. The SAT and other tests the College Board administers are helpful to colleges because the scale the scores are set on are the exact same and the material of the tests is quite similar.
Problems that have Arisen
If you’re a student or have been a student inside the United States, you’ve likely taken the SAT or at least one AP exam. These tests are administered by the College Board and the scores you receive on them are used by colleges across the country to gauge your proficiency in reading, math, and many other subjects. The College Board makes money by charging a fee on each test taken. These fees range from $49.50 for an SAT to $94 per AP exam. In addition, they will charge a fee ranging from $10-15 just to send your score to each college that you’re applying to. The costs surrounding these tests have allowed the College Board to report a record-breaking $1.07 billion in revenue last year. For an organization that claims to be a non-profit, the high costs of each test, and the fees that come with sending scores to colleges have angered many people. This isn’t the only issue that the College Board has faced.
In August of 2018, rumors spread that August 2018 SAT was the exact same as the October 2017 SAT taken in Asia. This made it much easier for test-takers to cheat because previous copies of the October SAT had already been leaked online. Students that had viewed these leaked copies already knew the answers for many questions and had a huge advantage over other test-takers.
Lastly, the transition to online tests, particularly for the AP exams, has also become a problem for the College Board. Those with poor internet connections struggled as many couldn’t load up the site or submit their exams. Many online test takers faced technical issues and were forced to re-take at a later date.
The Future
While there certainly are many problems surrounding the College Board, colleges will continue to use their tests. Test scores that are on the same point scale no matter where in the world you may be, are just too useful to colleges. Without some drastic change, it’s unlikely that the use of these standardized tests will dwindle.
By: Justin Zhu
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