The College Board is a nonprofit organization led by David Coleman, its current CEO, and Jeremy Singer, the organization’s president. The College Board has assisted many students by making standardized tests such as the SAT and Advanced Placement (AP) courses. With that, the College Board has provided several resources to both teachers and students to ease their journey. This includes educational videos and readings, providing a standardized curriculum for all courses, and offering training for teachers. However, what intrigues both students and teachers are the AP classes where most spend their money.
AP classes have been administered by the College Board since 1952. These advanced classes offer students a way to challenge themselves with courses that run at a faster pace. They are specifically coordinated to help students prepare for college. When taking an AP course, most students pay the fee of $99 per course for the standardized AP tests at the end of the year. Due to these high prices, many students have criticized the College Board for not making these classes as accessible to lower-income students.
“Sophomore year, I qualified for the free and reduced lunch, which included the AP test fee,” CHS senior Camila Sanchez said. “Now, I no longer qualify for free and reduced lunch. On occasion, my parents have struggled to [pay for AP tests].”
“[Taking AP classes is] kind of expected of you if you want to succeed, ” CHS senior Selene Withington said. “I remember back in my sophomore year when it was $98.”
The College Board, despite being a non-profit organization, has continued to rise in costs. From 2019 to 2020, AP tests were worth $94 per exam. Now, by 2025, it has shot up by $5. Realistically, that is not that much, but most students are not just taking one AP class; they are taking multiple. The costs are going to add up.
“I understand that they have to pay their test graders, but they’re still making a profit,” Withington said. “They are still a company at the end of the day, profit [will always be the end goal]. If [the] College Board is a scam, I have fallen for it.”
Along with the high price, the deadline to pay for these tests was originally in the spring and has now been pushed back to the fall. This urges more students to immediately pay for their tests without having the full knowledge of whether or not they will pass. Since moving the deadline, the College Board has seen an increase in profit— both because of the higher number of test-takers and the extra fee for late registration.
Despite those drawbacks, many students still think it is worth it to continue to challenge themselves with AP coursework. After all, that is what colleges expect. However, there has been a lot of discourse among seniors who are taking AP courses regarding whether or not it is valuable to still pay these high costs, as they will be in college by the time their scores come out.
“I think it’s worth it [to still pay]. It adds to my academic resume,” CHS senior Luke Vollintine said.
“I plan to take all the AP tests [for all of my classes] in the spring, except for maybe AP [Literature & Composition],” CHS senior Nabeeha Ahmed said. “Some colleges don’t accept it, and others accept it as an elective credit.”
AP Literature & Composition has an added layer, as most students taking the class have already taken AP Language and Composition. Most colleges don’t take both as credits, leaving many students debating whether or not to take the test.
“AP definitely has its place,.The trainings have been powerful and have made me a better teacher,” Stewart Morgan, who teaches both AP World History and AP Literature & Composition, said.
“I think there’s definitely a drawback and impact [for both students and teachers]. If you look at how much the College Board is worth, it seems problematic. [But], you’re paying $99 to potentially offset $1500, or [the average costs of a college class].”
In spite of dissenting opinions, most are in favor of taking the AP test, regardless of the costs, to pay less for college in the future.
“I think we have programs in place to help students pay for the test, and if not, that needs to be addressed,” Morgant said. “[We need to] remove barriers, and the fee should not be a barrier to [prevent students from taking the class].”
