This editorial represents the unanimous opinion of all 13 Outlook editors.
A significant part of a student’s commitment to Advanced Placement classes is their decision of whether or not to take AP tests in the spring. AP tests potentially allow students to earn credits towards college courses, resulting in lower college tuition. However, there are many reasons why students choose not to take the test: low mastery of the material, financial setbacks, or being accepted into a college that does not transfer AP credit. Additionally, even more students may be dissuaded by the new fall registration date which is nearly four months before last year’s deadline. The Outlook believes that the College Board’s decision to move the registration date to Nov. 15 to increase test participation is counterproductive and inconvenient.
Students, teachers and parents are criticizing the College Board, who claim that the earlier registration date was implemented to increase College Board profit margins.
“Asking us to sign students up so early and charging exorbitant fees for anyone who did not do so is usury,” said Columbia High School guidance director Scott White in an interview with The Washington Post. “The process benefits no one but the College Board and happens for one and only one reason: they have a monopoly and are acting like it.”
However, in an interview with The Washington Post, College Board spokesman Zachary Goldberg claimed otherwise.
“Our goal is to ensure that all AP students have equal access to the best resources to help them earn college credit,” Goldberg said. “The annual cost to develop and maintain these new resources, and the cost to develop and implement the fall registration process, actually reduce … the AP Program’s operating income for the foreseeable future.”
The College Board has maintained the fee for AP test registration and also implemented additional potential fees that punish students for indecision. The fee for late registration has increased from $25 to $40, and students who register for a test and then decide later not to take the exam have to pay an “Unused/cancelled exam fee” of $40. These new fees, when paired with the much earlier registration date, only exacerbate the financial burden the AP test can have on low-income students.
As mentioned earlier, another considerable factor are college applications for seniors. Following Dec. 15, some seniors may receive acceptance results to their early decision colleges; however, if that school does not accept AP transfer credits, seniors may decide that taking additional tests would be a waste of money. With the new registration fee, there is not enough time for students to decide against taking a test, causing them to deal with unnecessary expenses.
The College Board claims that their decision to move test dates up has resulted in a general increase in exam scores due to students being more motivated to study. However, are these statistics reliable? Moreover, how can the College Board attribute these new scores solely to the earlier registration dates if multiple factors determine how well students do on AP tests, such as the tests being curved differently every year? However, it also could be beneficial to have rolling registration where students can sign up for the AP exams from the fall to spring semester. This way, the administration will be able to prepare to set up the exams earlier and the College Board will be able to promote students to start focusing in the AP courses at the beginning of the year. The Aragon Outlook believes the negatives of this new deadline outweigh the positives by a large margin, and that the registration date for AP tests should be changed back to the spring.
