<p>And when you take into account the MILLIONS of students that take the SAT I, subject tests, pay for late fees, international testing, extra money for standby and expedited score reports, it's gotta be getting way up in the hundred millions. Just imagine, each student can apply to many colleges, they probably make more off of sending scores than the test itself </p>
<p>Then they realized that they were missing out on millions more because students didn't want to risk a bad score since every score was sent on a score report, so they know that students will start taking the SAT and Subject Tests as many times as they can until they can perfect it (makes college admissions a lot harder!) since they choose which ones to send starting March 2009.. Unless Colleges backfire by forcing students to list EVERY SCORE on the college applications, Collegeboard is going to be making so much money in a struggling economy. *CB is like the quietest and most successful business in the world. *</p>
<p>HA! I know! I always think about this too, it's freaking hilarious - they exist purely to make money. Well, and give us tests, but that's the less important part :P.</p>
<p>It might surprise you to know that the College Board, founded in 1900 as the College Entrance Examination Board (CEEB) is a non-profit corporation. </p>
<p>According to melissadata.org's Nonprofit Organization Lookup, the CEEB (assets of $565,645,809 / income of $732,963,472) has been tax-exempt since June 1942. CEEB's subsidiary, CollegeBoard.com, Inc. (assets of $2,013,123 / income of $6,545,301) has been tax-exempt since November 2003. The really interesting tidbit I came across while researching CEEB, is that its stated primary and secondary "activities" pertain to medical (disease) research and unspecified industrial research. "Other school related activities" follows at #3. So, it appears that SAT-related and other fees paid by college-bound students are used to fund CEEB-conducted, contracted, and/or sponsored scientific research. </p>
<p>"However, a nonprofit corporation is not prohibited from making a profit, but there are limitations on what it can do with its "profits." There also are limitations on how it can make money. For example, if a nonprofit corporation engages in profit-making activities unrelated to its recognized nonprofit purpose, it must set up a separate corporation to engage in that activity or risk losing its nonprofit, or tax exempt, status."
-<a href="http://www.not-for-profit.org/">http://www.not-for-profit.org/</a></p>
<p>Not only does it make insane amounts of money, it doesn't even have to pay taxes on that money! Hurray capitalism! Hurray College Board!</p>
<p>^ I do not believe that there is an income limitation, so long as that income is all profit from a specific service that serves the community (i.e. standardized testing) and so long as all that income comes from the same service that it was granted tax-exempt status.</p>
<p>While I doubt that College Board execs make 7 figures, it is certainly possible, and I bet high 6 figure salaries are not uncommon amongst CB executives.</p>
<p>But isn't it nice that they can profit at the expense of America's youth and control a captive market? After all, how many people don't take the SAT?</p>
<p>Well, since CB is a non-profit organization, the salaries of its executives should be fixed. That way there is not a conflict of interests, where the executives personally profit if the company makes more money (at the expense of the community they are supposed to serve). That being said, they should get paid a lot of money, since its an important organization.</p>
<p>^Many students from the Midwest (including me) take the SAT in addition to the ACT, but still, CB has an enormous monopoly on standardized testing. Sure, the ACT exists, but people often take both, and for elite admissions two SAT IIs are required.</p>
<p>^True. I've taken both. But I'm one of only two students in my class to have taken the SAT. In the Midwest, it's really just the students who are applying to elite colleges who take the SAT. But yes, the monopoly is still there. ACT has basically no prestige outside the US.</p>
<p>Personally, I f***ing hate them. Forget paying for college, you have to get through College Board first.
How are low income students supposed to do that?</p>
<p>They probably make about half a billion in revenue a year considering how many students take SATs, APs, Subject Tests, etc. On TOP of that, we have to pay to have each score sent, and that amount increases for each college you want to apply to. Imagine trying to apply to 10 different colleges. You’d be paying several hundred dollars just to get the chance to apply for a college. It’s complete bs.</p>
<p>And on top of ALL of this, they are probably subsidized by Uncle Sam since they are technically a monopoly. It’s almost as bad as our healthcare system, or as it was before Obama.</p>
<p>Yeah. I wish there were a company that were truly able to compete with CollegeBoard (ACT just has the one standardized test–no alternative to SAT IIs or APs). Like, in other industries businesses compete, lowering prices and raising quality for consumers. CollegeBoard doesn’t work that way, and as I result I have to pay them $1200-1300. Their fees are outrageous. I mean, why does it cost an extra $20 or so to register for a test late? Why do scores come out RIGHT after the on-time registration deadline? Why do APs cost SO much? It seems to me like CollegeBoard is just able to charge whatever it wants.</p>
<p>Yeah, CollegeBoard is non-profit, which annoys me since it makes it much more difficult to rant about how you have to pay for half of an SAT just to change the date. I’m just glad that my school offers free AP courses so that I don’t have to pay for the tests. At least, not directly, since taxes still count as paying. But even if that weren’t the case, the AP exams still cost WAY less than taking the class in college, and some people can get fee waivers for any standardized tests, regardless of whether it’s any CollegeBoard test or the ACT.</p>