The Synergy Project Magazine - August 2020

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system suspending the use of the SATand ACT for fall 2021 applications. Inaddition, the president of the UC systemJanet Napolitano has called for a five-yearplan in which students in years three andfour would not take the SAT or ACT, andin the fifth year, students would take anexam specifically developed by the UCsystem. The UC system is the “largestsingle university source of customersfor the College Board” due to the sheer“I just received an email saying that Iowed ninety-four dollars, ninety-fourdollars to the College Board because Itook the AP Lit exam. As in, I sat in mybed and wrote an essay about some kidthat was in love with this girl at church.That was a required exam [to graduate].And the College Board says “Oh well weneed you to pay ninety bucks becauseum, we need to print out all the paperand stuff.” There was no paper involvedin this transaction. There was no paperinvolved. Where is my ninety-four dollarsgoing? You non-profit my ass. Are youkidding me? Ninety-four dollars. In themiddle of a global pandemic. They hadthe audacity.” (Katelyn).amount of applicants to the UC systemand the percentage of those applicantswho take the SAT (Watanabe). This plan,or any other plan which would replacethese standardized exams for applicantsto the UC system, would strike a massiveblow to the College Board’s monopolyover university entrance exams.Credit by ExamThe College Board is the presiding entityover the two main credit by exam optionsfor students in high school and college.High school students may take AP classesand exams to receive college credit forvarious subjects. For college students,or students no longer in high school,the credit by exam option is the suite oftests known as CLEP exams. AP classesare typically weighted in most schooldistricts, so taking them provides a GPAboost to students over those in “collegepreparatory” level classes. This provides anunfair advantage, as the AP exams, whichstudents are heavily encouraged to take atthe end of the year, are each $94 withinthe United States or $124 outside of theUnited States (“Exam Fees”). To someinternational students in less economicallyadvantaged countries, that fee is almosttwo months’ worth of groceries. Evenfor US students, especially those takingmultiple AP exams, this cost is far toohigh.AP exam lawsuit of 2020. The 2020AP exam season was, to put it shortly,a disaster. Students had many issuessubmitting work, were deeply dissatisfiedwith the length of time given—45 minutesas opposed to a standard 3 hour exam—toanswer extensive questions, and were verydisappointed and angry with the CollegeBoard. Some students were so fed up withthe College Board’s clear incompetenceregarding the exams that instead ofsubmitting work, they submitted variousthings from pop culture, ranging fromthe “Sofia the First” theme song to theentire script of “The BeeMovie” (Lee). As onestudent puts it:“I just received anemail saying that I owedninety-four dollars,ninety-four dollarsto the College Boardbecause I took the APLit exam. As in, I sat inmy bed and wrote anessay about some kidthat was in love withthis girl at church. Thatwas a required exam[to graduate]. And theCollege Board says “Ohwell we need you to payninety bucks becauseum, we need to printout all the paper andstuff.” There was no paper involved in thistransaction. There was no paper involved.Where is my ninety-four dollars going?You non-profit my ass. Are you kiddingme? Ninety-four dollars. In the middle ofa global pandemic. They had the audacity.”(Katelyn).This student and the many otherswho liked this video believe that themoney they paid and the product theyreceived did not live up to expectationsor standards, and that the pricing forAP exams is absurd considering theyare the only credit by exam option forhigh school students. In addition, otherstudents on social media have claimedthat the College Board accessed theircameras and microphones to record themwithout explicit consent. Now, the CollegeBoard faces a $500 million class actionlawsuit over their “breach of contract,gross negligence, misrepresentation,unjust enrichment and violations ofthe Americans With Disabilities Act”(Jaschick). The College Board’s legalcounsel, Peter Schwartz, claims thatthis lawsuit is an unfounded PR stunt.However, students are deeply displeasedwith the College Board, and theirdispleasure will likely lead to the successof this lawsuit, or lead to further lawsuitsand/or legislation regarding the CollegeBoard.CLEP exams. CLEP exams are the APexams’ lesser-known cousins which grantstudents credit for college courses based onthe score a student receives. Many studentsare unaware of the existence of the CLEPexams as an alternative to the AP exams.These exams are offered at university andcommunity college proctoring centers.The CLEP exams are offered at a slightlylower price than the AP exams at $89 perexam, and are largely the only option forcredit by exam for non-military affiliatedstudents once they leave high school,leading to an effective monopoly over theindustry (“Register for CLEP Exams.”).Nonprofits and Antitrust LawsAs a nonprofit, the College Board isconsidered exempt from antitrust laws.Nonprofits by definition should not beable to restrain trade, so are not subject toantitrust laws (Nawalanic). However, theCollege Board should hardly be considereda nonprofit. The CEO of the CollegeBoard made nearly $900,000 a year in2016, and this amount has only increasedsince then (Dudley). In 2018, with over5 million AP exams given, the CollegeBoard made nearly $95 million in profits(“Follow the Money - College Board”).Clearly there is a disconnect between theword “nonprofit” and the College Board’sprofit-mongering. As the College Boardcannot truly be considered a nonprofit,based on the profit it does in fact makeand the absurd salaries it pays its higherlevelemployees, it is time to enforceantitrust laws against the College Boardand break the hold it has over highereducation.ConclusionUltimately, it may take years for theCollege Board to finally face retributionfor its unethical business practices,participation in discrimination againstlow-income students, and clearincompetence regarding the 2020 APexams. The UC system’s suspension of theSAT and proposed reform for entranceexams may substantially weaken thehold the College Board has over collegeentrance exams. The 2020 AP examlawsuit will substantially weaken themonopoly College Board has over creditby-examination.Finally, the clear forprofitnature of the College Board mustsoon become apparent to governmentofficials, and perhaps the College Boardwill have its status as a nonprofit revoked.These three things will (hopefully) breakthe College Board’s hold over secondaryand postsecondary education in theUnited States. One thing is sure: studentsare fed up with the College Board.Works CitedCollege Board. “How Much Do the SAT and SATSubject Tests Cost?” College Board Blog, 18May 2019, blog.collegeboard.org/how-muchdoes-sat-and-sat-subject-test-cost.Accessed 25May 2020.de la Vega, Camille. “Advocates File Suit Against08 EDUCATIONAL
University of California for DiscriminatoryUse of SAT/ACT In Admissions.” PublicCounsel, 10 December 2019, www.publiccounsel.org/stories?id=0283. Accessed25 May 2020.Dudley, Renee. “College Board faces rocky path afterCEO pushes new vision for SAT.” Reuters,Thomson Reuters, 12 December 2016, www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/collegesat-coleman/.Accessed 25 May 2020.“Exam Fees.” AP Students. College Board, apstudents.collegeboard.org/exam-policies-guidelines/exam-fees. Accessed 25 May 2019.“Follow the Money - College Board.” TotalRegistration. Total Registration, LLC, www.totalregistration.net/AP-Exam-Registration-Service/Follow-The-Money-History-of-College-Board-Finances.php. Accessed 25May 2020.Jaschick, Scott. “College Board Sued over APExams.” Inside Higher Ed, Inside Higher Ed,21 May 2020, www.insidehighered.com/quicktakes/2020/05/21/college-board-suedover-ap-exams.Accessed 25 May 2020.Katelyn. “THEY SAID I COULDNT GRADUATEIF I DIDNT PAY.” Tik Tok, uploaded by @ap_stressed, 21 May 2019, vm.tiktok.com/wvRGWu/. Accessed 25 May 2020Lee, Christina. “[girl with crown emoji] [dress emoji][high heel emoji].” Tik Tok, uploaded by @christinaxleee, 15 May 2019, vm.tiktok.com/wv1JVq/. Accessed 25 May 2020.Nawalanic, Frank J. “Motives of Non-ProfitOrganizations and the Antitrust Laws.”Cleveland State Law Review, vol. 21, 1972,pp. 97-113, engagedscholarship.csuohio.edu/clevstlrev/vol21/iss1/12/. Accessed 25 May2020.“Register for CLEP Exams.” CLEP. College Board,clep.collegeboard.org/register. Accessed 25May 2020.Watanabe, Theresa. “SAT should be suspendedfor UC admissions, Napolitano says.”Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 11May 2020, www.latimes.com/california/story/2020-05-11/napolitano-says-suspendthe-sat-test-for-uc-admissions.Accessed 25May 2020.
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