College Board “Non-Profit” Enacts Early AP Exam Registration Deadline
Photo courtesy of Scott Graham on Unsplash.com
November 12, 2020
College Board, a New York-based nonprofit organization that administers standardized tests for secondary students, now requires students to register for 2021 AP exams prior to November 12th. Each exam costs students $99, and any student that registers between November 13th and March 6th will have to pay an extra $40 fee per exam. This policy was set in place in late 2019, but before then, College Board allowed students to register at no extra fee as late as March. This creates a big issue for both students and teachers.
Schools in the US start classes around early September. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, teachers and students often have to accommodate the new learning environment implemented by the school, whether it’s remote learning, modified in-person learning, etc.
Teachers and students often feel the pressure of having to learn the AP curriculum the same manner that they did last year, without the pandemic interfering with learning.
Secondly, students don’t get a chance to experience the class that they have enrolled in, without already feeling the pressure of taking the AP exam in May. This policy makes it easy for the College Board to easily profit from new AP learners, not to mention the fact that the price of each AP exam has been increasing since its launch.
After taking the AP exam, a student will receive a single-digit number which determines the score, with no feedback or justification. Additionally, in order to send the scores to universities, which is the reason most students take the exam, students must pay an additional fee of $15 per exam.
This policy does not consider extreme circumstances, such as the global pandemic that is occurring. During these unprecedented times, students and teachers have difficulty managing their workload and may face personal and financial issues. For example, May 2020 AP exams were a hassle due to last-minutes changes in the curriculum, the timing of the exams, switching exams online, etc. Is the College Board really the non-profit, for-students organization that it claims to be?
While students are still trying to get accustomed to the new conditions during these unprecedented times, they should not have to worry about AP exams. “Early AP exam registration feels like a bad move for the College Board,” says junior student Andrew Lin. “The vague outcome of the pandemic, no confirmed vaccine or cure, and previous issues arising from the 2020 AP exams feel unsettling. The test registration should be pushed back, until we are sure they can reliably administer the test, whether it’s in-person or virtually.”