The biggest thing keeping students out of college is the tremendous costs. Over a quarter of Americans believe that college is not worth the high cost. From the application fees to the cost of tuition itself, the price of college racks up quickly. One expense many students don’t realize is the cost of taking college entrance exams.
In the United States, there are two main college entrance exams: the ACT and the SAT, with 1.4 and 1.9 million test takers in 2023 respectively.
The SAT costs $68 while the ACT costs $69, but the costs do not end there. For both tests, there are $30+ late registration fees, a $40 change fee, $40 to access a score report for your test, and $18 to send your score to each college past the first four.
One ACT test could end up costing a student well over $200. Not to mention the cost of test preparation; preparation can cost anywhere from $40 for a textbook to $2,500 for in-person tutoring.
In Ohio, state law requires all schools to administer the state-funded ACT or SAT to all juniors, free of charge. At GlenOak, all juniors receive the ACT. However, after one free test, students are on their own when it comes to paying for extra tests. The ACT and SAT have fee waivers, but only for those who qualify. Many students are on the border; they do not meet the requirements for a waiver but their families can not afford the extra burden of college entrance exams.
The opportunity to take college entrance exams can significantly advantage students. Fifty-five percent of students who retook the SAT score higher by an average of 40 points. An increase of 40 points in the SAT math section from 690 to 730 will more than double a student’s chance of acceptance to MIT.
Regardless of the costs, colleges have begun to move from a test-optional policy implemented during the COVID pandemic back to a test-required policy. Harvard as well as most of the Ivy League have implemented ACT or SAT requirements. This has forced students to once again face the price of college entrance exams.
These high costs have allowed the College Board, which runs the SAT, to make over $1.1 billion in 2019. While ACT Inc made $353 million in 2019. The College Board and ACT Inc. are both classified as 501 (c) 3 nonprofit organizations. While revenue alone is not a bad thing, the lack of clarity regarding their financial status is what is detrimental to the well-being of American students.
In 2019, the President of the College Board made $1.1 million while the President of ACT Inc made $800k. On top of that, between 2011 and 2019 the College Board invested $1.32 billion into the Caribbean. The exact location of those investments is unknown, but they were most likely invested into Cayman Islands hedge funds to avoid U.S. taxes, which is a legal tax loophole.
Although what the SAT and ACT are doing is legal, it is unethical. In Ohio alone, the ACT and SAT get $2 million a year from the state government to cover the costs of one free test for every high school junior. Not to mention the $6.7 million in federal grants the SAT received in 2019.
The SAT and ACT have a responsibility to the American public to remove or lower their fee costs or to provide an increase in fee waivers. Their executives made millions a year while they continue to avoid federal taxes by investing in foreign hedge funds.
They have the capital to lower their fees, the question though remains if they are willing. If they don’t, lower-income students will continue to struggle. Currently, high-income students are 13 times more likely to score high on the ACT/SAT than a lower-income student.
College entrance exams are not going anywhere as more colleges begin to reinstate test requirements, yet the tests themselves have not become more accessible. It is imperative that the ACT and SAT lower their costs, to create a level playing field for all students.
