The Synergy Project Magazine - August 2020

IT IS TIME
FOR THE
COLLEGE
BOARD’S
REIGN OVER
UNITED
STATES
EDUCATION
TO END.
By Alexandra Friestman
Recently, the University of California
(UC) system suspended the use of
standardized high school exams such as
the SAT for applicants in light of the
COVID-19 pandemic reducing access
to testing opportunities. The College
Board is the nonprofit organization
which administers the SAT, College-
Level Examination Program (CLEP), and
Advanced Placement (AP) exams as college
entrance or for credit. The University of
California decision is only one example
of the fight between students and the
College Board. As a nonprofit, the
College Board is exempt from laws such
as the Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890, yet
they hold a near-monopoly over college
entrance and credit by exam. During
the COVID-19 pandemic, the College
Board’s decision to administer AP exams
online was a disastrous failure that resulted
in a class-action lawsuit following issues
regarding submissions and test structure.
The College Board exerts immense and
unprecedented control over secondary and
postsecondary education in the United
States of America.
Discrimination and the SAT
The SAT is one of two major college
entrance exams in the United States. It
is administered once a month at various
testing locations including public and
private high schools and it is written,
graded, and distributed by the College
Board. It is the most commonly offered
entrance exam by school districts, pushed
on students by school administrations.
The alternative entrance exam, the
ACT, is commonly something students
must register for separately and take at
an external testing site. The SAT costs
$49.50, or $64.50 for the SAT with Essay
for students (College Board). SAT prep
courses can make the true cost of the SAT
much higher and create a gap in scores
between those who can afford prep courses
and retakes and those who cannot.
UC lawsuit. A lawsuit starting in late
2019 alleged that the use of the SAT
and ACT as an admissions requirement
amounted “to deciding students’ future
based on their race and socioeconomic
status and not on individual merit” (De
La Vega). The lawsuit, combined with
the COVID-19 pandemic, led to the UC
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