Apple dominates smartphones. Amazon dominates shopping. Many say that the College Board dominates high school education — and students don’t even realize it.
From testing for the PSAT to finding lessons on AP Classroom, the College Board has slowly seeped into several areas of education across the nation. While supporters of this organization praise its ability to provide resources to all, many argue that this monetized system has created a monopoly in education — one that’s become a barrier for many teachers and a burden for many students.
Its influence stretches far beyond classrooms, shaping students’ education, providing limitations on teachers’ autonomy, and even what colleges value.
A Quiet Monopoly
Founded in 1899, the College Board has aimed to “clear a path for all students to their own future.” Over a hundred years later, this organization reaches over 7 million students, according to the College Board website.
With College Board controlling the AP program, the SAT and BigFuture, students in over a hundred countries find themselves relying on College Board programs. With no other plausible alternative, they are forced to learn and test the way this private company requires. Their control extends into school curricula through standardized frameworks.
Highly-trained teachers can create lesson plans and teach topics that require deep analysis over generalization; however, with the limitations placed by The College Board, many educators are left without much room for creativity, forcing them to prioritize test content over meaningful exploration and discussion. This influence extends far beyond simple guidelines.
“Who actually runs the world of high school curriculum, right?” Ms. Erinn Murphy said. “We have fantastic educators and thoughtful teaching — and yet, College Board has a lot of say in how it’s going on in classrooms across the country.”
However, when signing up for these classes, students are oblivious to the level of control the College Board has over their lives.
“I don’t need College Board to tell me how to teach government, and yet I have to follow their curriculum to teach to a test that may or may not get kids college credit,” Mr. Dennis Duffy, an AP Government teacher, said.
Even with this payment, there’s no guarantee that students will receive the scores they want.
“I’m going to pay College Board for all this material,” Mr. Duffy said. “I’m going to pay College Board to register for the [AP] test, and there’s no guarantee that I’m going to get college credit.”
With a promise to fuel students’ future, the College Board provides students with SATs, AP resources and scholarship opportunities through BigFuture. While their focus remains on these resources and their contribution to education, critics are calling attention to the billion dollars of revenue that flows into this non-profit, according to Forbes.
“College Board is technically a nonprofit, but that doesn’t mean they’re not making money,” senior Eddy Li, who has taken over fifteen AP classes, said. “Schools end up paying for students’ exams with government money, so it’s this endless cycle of public funds flowing to a private company.”
To older critics, the solution may seem obvious: just stop using these materials; however, an abundance of high school students use AP tests and SAT scores to impress College Admissions Officers.
At high-achieving high schools, like Libertyville, Ms. Murphy argues that students feel at a disadvantage if they don’t take advantage of every opportunity they’re given — including every AP class.
“Students worry their application isn’t strong enough because they didn’t take a certain AP class — that they’ll be put in the ‘no pile,’” Ms. Murphy said. “But that’s not always how it works.”
Furthermore, Li states that taking students feel even more inclined to take AP classes for the GPA boost LHS rewards, giving the possibility to earn an extra 5.0.
“At schools like ours, taking AP classes gives you a GPA boost,” Li said. “So even if you want to explore something else — like human anatomy — you risk falling behind everyone else if it’s not AP.”
Another benefit of these scores includes earning college credits for general education courses and meeting graduation requirements at different universities. While the amount of credit per score differs in different institutions, students still jump at the chance to take these courses.
The Classroom Consequence
Inside the classroom, the presence of the College Board is felt with every unit, lecture and assessment. While the AP curricula are designed to reflect college-level rigor, many teachers feel restricted in what — and how — they can teach.
For 19 years, Mr. Duffy has developed several lesson plans, successfully teaching social studies students from World History to Law. Refusing to teach AP for most of his years, he’s currently reluctantly teaching AP Government.
“I don’t need College Board to tell me how to teach government, and yet I have to follow their curriculum to teach to a test that may or may not get kids college credit,” Mr. Duffy said.
Students, like Li, see these restrictions affecting their education as well.
“Teachers are forced to teach for the test,” Li said. “You hear it all the time — ‘We need to prepare for the AP exam.’ It affects how classes are taught and how students think about learning.”
The real cost of the College Board’s monopoly isn’t financial; it’s educational. Teachers lose the ability to tailor their lessons flexibly, and students miss the chance to explore what’s beyond the test.
“If I have to teach it, I’m going to do the best I can to prepare my students for the test,” Mr. Duffy said. “But that’s part of why I hate teaching AP — because it’s all about test preparation. That’s a horrible pedagogical pursuit.”
Even with restrictions already in place, the College Board has started eliminating units in some courses, allowing a larger passing rate for each exam and increasing student engagement, overall making the tests easier for students.
“Students today are the smartest we’ve ever been — we have more resources than anyone before us,” Li said. “So it confuses me why AP tests are actually getting easier. Instead of challenging us to think, they’re shrinking what we learn.”
Conclusion
The College Board markets itself as a gateway to opportunity through its extensive resources. But as AP classes grow, college applications require SAT scores and classrooms to bend to fit their standards, leaving students and teachers left to wonder: when one company controls what and how we learn, who really benefits?
