College Board

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College Board

Founded
December 22, 1899; 116 years ago (as College Entrance Examination Board)
Type
Educational
Location
250 Vesey Street, New York City,New York, U.S. (headquarters)
Website
www.collegeboard.org
Formerly called College Entrance Examination Board
College Board is an American private non-profit organization that was formed in
December 1899 as the College Entrance Examination Board (CEEB) to
expand access to higher education. While College Board is not an association of
colleges, it runs a membership association of institutions, including over 6,000
schools, colleges, universities and other educational organizations. College Board
develops and administers standardized tests and curricula used by K12 and postsecondary education institutions to promote college-readiness and as part of the
college admissions process. College Board is headquartered in New York City.
[1] David Coleman has been the president of College Board since October 2012. He
replaced Gaston Caperton, former Governor of West Virginia, who had held this position
since 1999.[2][3]
In addition to managing assessments for which it charges fees, College Board
provides resources, tools and services to students, parents, colleges and
universities in the areas of college planning, recruitment and admissions, financial
aid, and retention.[4] It is partly funded by grants from various foundations, such
as the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation until 2009.[5]

Contents
[hide]

1History
2CEEB code
3Tests and programs
3.1SAT and SAT Subject Tests

 3.2PSAT/NMSQT
3.3Advanced Placement Program
3.4College Level Examination Program
3.5Accuplacer
3.6SpringBoard
4CSS/Financial Aid PROFILE
5Criticism
5.1Exam fees
5.2MIT study
5.3Advanced Placement (AP) classes
5.4Reporting errors
5.5Sale of student data
6See also
7References
8External links

History[edit]
Education in the United States

By state + territory
By subject area
History of
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The College Entrance Examination Board (CEEB) was founded at Columbia

University on December 22, 1899, by representatives of 12 universities and three
high school preparatory academies. These were:
Columbia University
Colgate University
University of Pennsylvania
New York University
Barnard College
Union College
Rutgers University
Vassar College
Bryn Mawr College
Women's College of Baltimore (now Goucher College)
Princeton University
Cornell University
Newark Academy
Mixed High School, New York
Collegiate Institute, New York[6]
The organization's intent was to "adopt and publish a statement of the ground
which should be covered and of the aims which should be sought by secondary
school teaching in each of the following subjects (and in such others as may be
desirable), and a plan of examination suitable as a test for admission to college:
Botany, Chemistry, English, French, German, Greek, History, Latin, Mathematics,
Physics, Zoology".[7][8]

CEEB code[edit]
College Board maintains a numbered registry of countries, college majors,
colleges, scholarship programs, test centers, and high schools. In the United
States, this registry is borrowed by other institutions as a means of unambiguous
identification; thus, a student might give his or her guidance department not only

a college's name and address, but also its CEEB code, to ensure that his or her
transcript is sent correctly. There exists a similar set of ACT codes for colleges and
scholarships, centers, and high schools; however, these codes are less widely
used outside ACT, Inc.

Tests and programs[edit]

SAT and SAT Subject Tests[edit]
Main articles: SAT and SAT Subject Tests
The SAT is a fee-based standardized test for college admissions in the United States
first administered in 1926.[9] The SAT is administered by College Board in the
United States and is developed, published, and scored by the Educational Testing
Service (ETS). The SAT covers writing, reading, and mathematics. SAT scores range
from 600 to 2400, with each of the three sections worth up to 800 points. Most
students take the test during their junior or senior year of high school. In the
marketplace, the SAT competes with theACT, another standardized college
admissions test.
The SAT Subject Tests are intended to measure student performance in specific
areas, such as mathematics, science, and history.
On March 5, 2014, College Board announced that a redesigned version of the SAT
would be administered for the first time in 2016. The exam will revert to the 1600point scale, the essay will be optional, and students will have three hours to take
the exam plus 50 additional minutes to complete the essay.[10] On May 13, 2015,
College Board announced the release of a new credential initiative to get students
more interested in careers focused in STEM with a Project Lead the Way
partnership.[11]

PSAT/NMSQT[edit]
Main article: PSAT/NMSQT
The PSAT/NMSQT is a fee-based standardized test that provides firsthand practice
for the SAT. It also functions as a qualifying test for the National Merit Scholarship
Corporation's scholarship programs.

Advanced Placement Program[edit]

Main article: Advanced Placement Program

The College Board's Advanced Placement Program is an extensive program that offers
high school students the chance to participate in what College Board describes as
college-level classes for a fee, reportedly broadening students' intellectual
horizons and preparing them for college work. It also plays a large part in the
college admissions process, showing students' intellectual capacity and genuine
interest in learning. The program allows many students to gain college credit for high
performance on the AP exams, much in the same manner as the CLEP. Granting
credit, however, is at the discretion of the college. There are 2,900 colleges that
grant credit and/or advanced standing.[citation needed] Critics of the Advanced Placement
Program charge that courses and exams emphasize breadth of content coverage
instead of depth.[citation needed]

College Level Examination Program[edit]

Main article: College Level Examination Program
The College Level Examination Program (CLEP) provides students of any age with the
opportunity to demonstrate college-level achievement through a program of
exams in undergraduate college courses.

Accuplacer[edit]
The College Board's Accuplacer test is a computer-based placement test that
assesses reading, writing and math skills.[12] The Accuplacer test includes reading
comprehension, sentence skills, arithmetic, elementary algebra, college-level
mathematics and the writing test, Writeplacer. The Accuplacer test is used
primarily by more than 1,000 high schools and colleges[13] to determine a
student's needed placement. Often community colleges have specific guidelines
for students requiring the Accuplacer test. The Accuplacer Companion paper-andpencil tests allows for students with disabilities to take the test through its braille,
large print and audio tests. The biggest benefit of the Accuplacer and Accuplacer
Companion tests are their ability to be scored immediately through an online
scoring system and taken in remote locations. While there are normally no fees for
taking the test, some institutions may charge a fee to retake the test. Note that if
a testing institution is not local, an examinee may be required to arrange a
proctor for the test. If so, a local library may be willing to serve as proctor as there
are not many other options for individuals in this case. Most schools will only test
their own admissions candidates.

SpringBoard[edit]
SpringBoard is a pre-Advanced Placement program created by College Board to
prepare students who intend to take AP courses or college-level courses in their
scholastic career. Based on Wiggins and McTighe's "Understanding by Design"
model, the SpringBoard program attempts to map knowledge into scholastic skill
sets in preparation for Advanced Placement testing and college success. Units of

instruction are titrated to students within and across all school grades, providing a
vertically articulated curriculum framework that scaffolds learning skills and
subject test knowledge. Implicit in the course curriculum, the program embeds
pre-AP and AP teaching and learning strategies across grade school levels and
classwork.
The curriculum is applicable to grades 6 through 12. Teachers are provided with
formative assessments, professional training, and a variety of teaching tools to
track student progress. The instructional framework is integrated in the
curriculum content and subject materials. SpringBoard also provides other Web
2.0 resources aimed at making the program more community oriented.

CSS/Financial Aid PROFILE[edit]

College Board also offers the CSS/Financial Aid PROFILE, a financial aid application
service that many institutions use in determining family contribution and financial
assistance packages. This is a fee-based service to institutions and students also
must pay a fee to submit it to a school.

Criticism[edit]
Since at least the late 1970s, College Board has been subject to criticism from
students, educators, and consumer rights activists. College Board owns the SAT and
many students must take SAT exams for admission to competitive colleges such
as the Ivy League institution. Although the ACT is usually accepted as an alternative
to the SAT, some colleges require students to take the SAT Subject Tests. Some
colleges also require students submit a College Board "CSS/Financial Aid PROFILE"
when applying for financial aid. As there are no broadly accepted alternatives
to College Board's AP, SAT Subject Test, and CSS/Financial Aid products, the company
is often criticized as exploiting its monopoly on these products.
FairTest, an organization that advocates against over-dependence on standardized
tests in school admissions, maintains that the SAT often underestimates the

aptitude of African-American students and others. FairTest maintains a list of SAToptional colleges on its website.[14]
Consumer rights organization Americans for Educational Testing Reform (AETR) has
criticized College Board for violating its non-profit status through excessive profits
and exorbitant executive compensation; nineteen of its executives make more
than $300,000 per year, with CEO Gaston Caperton earning $1.3 million in 2009
(including deferred compensation).[15][16] AETR also claims that College Board is
acting unethically by selling test preparation materials, directly lobbying
legislators and government officials, and refusing to acknowledge test-taker
rights.[17]

Exam fees[edit]
The SAT Reasoning Test costs $52.50 ($77 if late), the AP Tests cost US $92 as of
2016, and taking AP exams is often a requirement for students taking AP classes,
[18] and the SAT Subject Tests cost a baseline of $26 with a $16 fee for each test.
[19] Furthermore, there are numerous other services that can be added to the basic
costs, including late registration, score verification services, and various
answering services that are available. SAT score reports cost $11.25 per college
for 12-week electronic delivery, or 24-week paper or disk delivery, depending on
what method the school requires ($31.00 extra for two-day processing). College
Board allows high school administrators to authorize fee waivers for some
services to students from low-income families, generally those meeting National
School Lunch Act criteria.[20] In addition, due to the competitive nature of the test,
many students find it necessary to take preparatory courses or to have SAT
tutoring, which can cost hundreds, sometimes thousands, of dollars.
Even College Board's College Scholarship Service Profile (CSS), a college financial
aid application meant to help students pay for college, requires a fee. For the
200809 school year, the price is $25 for the first report sent and an additional
$16 for each additional college to receive the information.
In 2006, College Board had $582.9 million of revenue but spent only $527.8
million, leaving a $55.1 million surplus.[21] Budget surpluses persist despite
market-leading compensation packages for College Board executives in 2009
College Board paid out a $1.3 million/year package for CEO Caperton, more than
the head of the American Red Cross or Harvard University. It paid nineteen
executives more than $300,000 each per year.[22]

MIT study[edit]
In 2005, MIT Writing Director Les Perelman plotted essay length versus essay score
on the new SAT from released essays and found a high correlation between them.
After studying 23 graded essays he found that the longer the essay was, the
higher the score it was given. Perelman found that he could accurately determine

the score of an essay without even reading the essay. In his study, he discovered
that several of these essays were full of factual inaccuracies. The College Board
does not claim to grade for factual accuracy.
Perelman, along with the National Council of Teachers of English also criticized the 25minute writing section of the test for damaging standards of writing taught in the
classroom. They say that writing teachers training their students for the SAT will
not instill revision, depth and accuracy, but will instead guide them to produce
long, formulaic, and wordy pieces.[23] "You're getting teachers to train students to
be bad writers", concluded Perelman.[24]

Advanced Placement (AP) classes[edit]

Some teachers have criticized AP classes as restrictive in the nature of their
curriculum and yet indispensable due to the importance of AP classes in the
college admissions process. College Board is effectively able to control every
aspect of AP classes directly or indirectly. The $92 fee, which is noted critically
above, results only in a score report with the test name and grade. No details are
given on how this scoring was reached nor are individuals given access to this
information from College Board.[25]

Reporting errors[edit]
In March 2006, it was discovered that College Board had mis-scored several
thousand tests taken in October 2005. Although the Board was aware of the error
as early as December, it waited months to respond and, in late March, schools still
did not have correct details. Within days of the first announcement, the Board
corrected upward the number of affected students.[26]
Many colleges use the SAT score to decide acceptance and scholarships. The late
reporting of errors upset many high-profile colleges. The dean of admissions
at Pomona College commented, "Everybody appears to be telling half-truths, and
that erodes confidence in College Board...It looks like they hired the people who
used to do the books forEnron".[26]

Sale of student data[edit]

As of 2015, College Board charged $0.40 per name for access to student
information.[27] Investigation by the New York Civil Liberties Union revealed that one of
College Board's customers was JAMRS, a military recruitment program run by
the United States Department of Defense.[28] College Board and ACT have been sued over
the use of this information.[29] In addition there is criticism that students aren't
sufficiently made aware that their data is being sold.[citation needed]

See also[edit]
ACT, a test by ACT, Inc., the main competitor to College Board's SAT
College admissions in the United States

 IB Diploma Programme, a pre-university educational program administered by

the International Baccalaureate, the main competitor to College Board's Advanced
Placement (AP) Program
Writing assessment

References[edit]
1.

Jump up^ "Contact Us." College Board. Retrieved March 21, 2015.

2.

Jump up^ Leadership at College Board

3.

Jump up^ "College Board Names David Coleman New President" (Press release). College Board. 16 May 2012.
Retrieved 26 July 2013.

4.

Jump up^ What We Do at College Board. Retrieved August 12, 2013.

5.

Jump up^ "College Entrance Examination Board Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation". Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
Retrieved October 13, 2014.

6.

Jump up^ "Plan of organization for the College Entrance Examination Board of the Middle States and Maryland and a statement of
subjects in which examinations are proposed". [n.p.]Retrieved 6 March 2014.

7.

Jump up^ "Plan of organization for the College Entrance Examination Board of the Middle States and Maryland and a statement of
subjects in which examinations are proposed". [n.p,]. Retrieved 6 March 2014.

8.

Jump up^ John Gabbert Bowman (1911), "College Examination and Certification Boards", in Paul Monroe, Cyclopedia of
Education, 2, New York: Macmillan, pp. 8790 via HathiTrust

9.

Jump up^ History of College Board at College Board

10.

Jump up^ Lewin, Tamar (5 March 2014). "A New SAT Aims to Realign With Schoolwork". The New York Times.

Retrieved 14 May 2014.

11.

Jump up^ "College Board Launches STEM 'Credential' Initiative". U.S. News. 13 May 2015. Retrieved 21

May 2014.

12.

Jump up^ Accuplacer at College Board

13.

Jump up^ Placement Testing at Monroe Community College

14.

Jump up^ "FairTest The National Center for Fair and Open Testing". FairTest. RetrievedOctober 13, 2014.

15.

Jump up^ Costello, Carol. (December 29, 2009). "Educating America: The big business of the SAT", CNN.

Retrieved July 8, 2010.

16.

Jump up^ "College Board Leader Paid More Than Harvard's". Americans for Educational Testing Reform.

Bloomberg. 25 August 2011. Retrieved 26 July 2013.

17.

Jump up^ AETR Report Card: College Board. Americans for Educational Testing Reform. Retrieved July 8,

2010.

18.

Jump up^ Calendar, College Board. Retrieved July 8, 2010.

19.

Jump up^ SAT Fees, College Board

20.

Jump up^ "How the Fee-Waiver Service Works". College Board. Retrieved February 10, 2011.

21.

Jump up^ Matlin, Chadwick (13 May 2009). "Taking the $ATs: A TBM investigation into the gobstopping amounts of

money made by nonprofit testing services". Slate. Philosophy of Science blog. Retrieved 8 July 2010.

22.

Jump up^ Nonprofit Head of College Board Paid More Than Harvards Leader, Janet Lorin,BloombergBusiness, August

26, 2011.

23.

Jump up^ Winerip, Michael. (May 4, 2009) SAT Essay Test Rewards Length and Ignores Errors.The New York

Times. Retrieved September 5, 2009.

24.

Jump up^ Lynn, Harris. "Testing, testing". Salon. Retrieved 8 July 2010.

25.

Jump up^ "AP Test Scores". College Board. Retrieved July 15, 2011.

26.

^ Jump up to:a b Arenson, Karen W. (March 23, 2006). "SAT Problems Even Larger Than Reported".The New York
Times. Retrieved March 28, 2010.
27.
Jump up^ "Pricing & Payment Policies". Retrieved 1 November 2015.

28.

Jump up^ "Joint Advertising Market Research Studies (JAMRS)". New York Civil Liberties Union. Retrieved 1

November 2015.

29.

Jump up^ "College Board, ACT sued over sale of student information". 31 October 2013. Retrieved 1

November 2015.

External links[edit]
Official website
About College Board
College Board's tests
[hide]

v
t
e

College Board

Gaston Caperton (19992012)

Presidents
David Coleman (2012present)
SAT Tests

SAT
Main Tests
PSAT/NMSQT
Subject Tests
Biology E/M
Chemistry
English Language Proficiency (discontinued)

French
Literature
Mathematics Level 1
Mathematics Level 2
Physics
U.S. History
World History
Art History
Music Theory
Arts
Studio Art: 2-D Design
Studio Art: 3-D Design
Studio Art: Drawing
English Language
English
English Literature

AP exams

Comparative Government and Politics

European History
Human Geography
Macroeconomics
History & Social Science
Microeconomics
Psychology
U.S. History
U.S. Government and Politics
World History
Calculus AB
Calculus BC
Math & Computer Science
Computer Science A
Computer Science Principles
Statistics
Biology
Chemistry
Environmental Science
Physics 1: Algebra-Based
Sciences
Physics 2: Algebra-Based
AP Physics B (discontinued)
Physics C: Mechanics
Electricity and Magnetism
World Languages & Cultures
Chinese
French
French Literature (discontinued)

German
Italian
Japanese
Latin
Latin Literature (discontinued)
Russian (in development)
Spanish
Spanish Literature

Advanced Placement
Programs & apps
College Level Examination
CSS Profile
Educational Testing Service
Related
Mathverbal achievement gap
National Merit Scholarship Corporation