Calling College Board out on their greed.

Actually intparent I think the school ought to handle the financial aid portion at their own expense. Right now they are asking me to pay for their decision to outsource a job that could, most likely, be competently handled on campus.

@notverysmart They need the money to pay some bills: “David Coleman, the president and chief executive officer of the College Board, as well as a trustee, earned for the 2013 fiscal year ending June 30, 2014: $690,854 in reportable compensation plus $43,338 in other compensation from the organization and related organizations. Total: $734,192.”

Big money in non-profits…

Additional tidbit: “The College Board itself claimed total assets that topped $1 billion, and its “assessment” programs — mostly the SAT and PSAT — took in $333 million but spent $289 million, for a net of $44 million.”

They do give back, though: “The College Board contributes more than $75 million in fee waivers to students each year.”

source: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/answer-sheet/wp/2015/09/30/how-much-do-big-education-nonprofits-pay-their-bosses-quite-a-bit-it-turns-out/

@notverysmart, do you know how many kids are able to take the SAT for free because of fee waivers? They can also send 4 scores for free. Up to two SAT can be taken for free with a fee waiver.

So maybe the collegeboard is using some of the money to help lower income students?

They also send out booklets of info so that lower income students know that they can apply to at least four colleges for free.

Everything about the CB’s pricing structure seems designed to prey on students’ fears. Your score reports are free only before you see scores, which naturally discourages many students from using their free reports. You also don’t get free reports for subject tests (IIRC) and so any student taking the SAT II tests needs to pay to send scores to colleges that have his/her SAT I scores already. Since the CB charges a flat fee for all scores, those free reports are useless for applicants submitting the SAT II, who pay exactly what everyone who didn’t use the 4 reports would.

The SAT schedule, moreover, is designed to make rush reporting a possibility. If the test were administered near the end of each month, and scores released early the next month (rather than the other way around), “normal” reporting could get all scores to colleges on time. Instead, the CB has created a demand for rush reports where none need exist.

All this smacks to me of profiteering. I’m just glad I didn’t need to take any of the CB tests more than once, because every dollar I pay them for the privilege of sending scores makes me sick.

Like others said, just wait until you get the semester bill for college or pay $200 or more for a particular textbook.

@psywar That article is a real find. A few more highlights.

“…In 2007, the Iowa attorney general’s office wanted the IRS to review the salaries of the Iowa City-based ACT after The Des Moines Register disclosed that ACT was paying board members more than 98 percent of nonprofit corporations nationally and that some ACT board members received more than $40,000 annually to attend four meetings…”

“…At the College Board, senior vice president Peter Negroni earned a total of $811,873 — the majority part of a severance package…”

And, most tellingly of all.

“…The College Board spent $1,768,295 on lobbying Congress and other public officials.”

Glad to know these two organizations spend more than $1.7 million of our test fees on necessary test-related expenses like lobbying.

The ETS is as bad as the College Board in many respects, but at least they spend about $1 million less on lobbying and manage to get test scores delivered on time.

@mommdc You’re right that he had no business calling that person an an idiot. However, I’m still stuck on this idea that we should berate the student for taking a sensible approach to sending his scores to top colleges. Collegeboard promises us many things. Our scores will be released on (Insert Date), and if we rush order our scores, they will be sent to the college in 1-2 business days. Now, the student has absolutely no reason to not trust the system on this, if the CB started releasing scores days late, everyone would be rightfully angry and no one would blame the student for “Taking the SAT at such a late date” because that is irrelevant, it’s CBs job to deliver the scores. It is frustrating to see so many people on here putting the student at fault here. The CB is provides us with many services (which they are paid handsomely fore), and when they fail to provide the service and possibly put student’s futures in jeopardy, it is entirely their fault!

Now, many people ITT have provided reasonable excuses for the collegeboard to charge us what they are charging us, but they have not done anything to back up their claims that students should “” have taken an earlier SAT then." This is a poisonous mentality to have. They should not have taken the SAT an earlier date, Collegeboard should have delivered on their promises, and now that they haven’t they should be prepared for whatever well-deserved backlash they receive.

@bjkmom I don’t know why you were so defensive regarding my post; the tone wasn’t accusatory towards the college board. And yes, thank you for pointing out the obvious, I made ~choices~ in paying to apply to college. I could have saved a whole bunch of money by not taking the SATs at all and refusing to go to college. Perhaps that would be the wisest ~choice~.

Really… You want every college to give your their own equivalent of the CSS profile?? That would be a huge pain – at least it is one standard centralized form now.

And I am not sympathetic to anyone having to rush scores. My kids finished all testing, including retesting, in junior year. Your lack of planning resulted in your rush fees. And no one needs to apply to 22 schools – and then have the nerve to complain about the expense.

@intparent I don’t understand how you aren’t getting that people have varying situations. Your kids being able to get their best scores in Junior year is wonderful, but not everyone has this luxury. And you miss my point, I’m not whining about the cost, it’s a dual issue. The problem is the exorbitant cost coupled with the awful mismanagement. I never specifically complained about my expenses, it’s the overall ridiculous amount of money people have to pay to the college board. My parents simply couldn’t afford to pay 70 bucks 3 times in Junior year until I receive optimal scores. I find it really confusing that you simply cant find any sympathy for people who aren’t as skilled or well versed in the colllefe application process as you. For the majority of the people here, this is their first time ever doing this. They trusted the collegeboard and now they’re paying for it. They did nothing wrong.

@nobelcollegekid

You said the only way score sending is free is if you specify the colleges to send to on your SAT registration form, but that is not true. A student who used a fee waiver for SAT can send four scores for free anytime.

@mommdc Well that is great, but what about the majority who do not qualify for waivers?

They can do practice tests until they are confident that their score will be as high as they want it and then take the test and take it at end of junior year so there is no need to rush scores, that would save money.

@mommdc I find practice tests to be extremely misleading. 185 on the PSAT but 1980 on the real deal, 32 on every ACT practice test but 29. Anyway, I think that this is just another way to blame the victims. Dont you think that most people who took the SAT Junior year but were disappointed took many practice tests before hand? What if I took the SAT in June(which i did) after taking a dozen practice tests and underperformed ? My only options are the September or October tests dates( CB only ever offered me October, but that’s another issue).

@mommdc OH! So I have to spend money to save money! Give me a break; why do you defend these people? Did you buy stock in their underground market? :-@

I’m not blaming anybody. If you are concerned about the cost then I gave a possible way to save money.

How many times do you think you should take the tests? If you take them too often it looks bad.

@mommdc You gave a may that only applies to a select few, what about the rest of us? I took the SAT twice. The first time I scored a 2120 and the second I scored a 2300. I do not think I took it too many times. Do you?

No, someone mentioned three or more times. I would not pay for that many tests either. So I said if lots of practice tests are done and scores improve enough, then take a final test, that would be cheaper than taking three or more tests in all.

Your score increase did not just happen because you took another test, did it? You probably practiced inbetween the tests to get a better score.

My child did the same, but in winter and spring of junior year, was done well before fall of senior year and application time.

People can take the tests up to 3 times without seeing their chances negatively affected at most colleges, and it’s more or less standard practice to take them twice for students who didn’t score a 2250+ their first time. With 1.7 million test-takers a year, you can bet there’ll be a substantial number who didn’t get the scores they wanted their junior year and need October results to supplement their EA/ED application.

To wit: test scores one of my classmates has received on practice tests, and on actual SATs, in the last year or so.

Test date 1: 1900+ on final practice test, 1700 on actual test

Test date 2: 2000+ on final practice test, 1940 on actual test

Test date 3 (October 2015): 2150+ on final practice test, 2000 on actual test.

One of the smartest kids in our grade and, with 3-4 hours a week of prep and several courses since that first score came back, his scores are still substandard (for the schools he’s looking at). As it is, October is his best yet, and he’s sending it - or would be, if the score report hadn’t been delayed.

There are applicants waiting on score reports who might’ve gotten the SAT out of the way their junior years. There are also those who tried their hardest - and couldn’t. None of that excuses the College Board’s mistakes here.

The service SHOULD NOT BE FREE. There should be some skin off your back to ensure EARNEST requests. When things are free, the use/access gets trivialized/abused. For low income kids there are fee waivers available.

As for the poster here who applied to 22 schools-- that’s beyond ridiculous.