College Board Controversy

The College Board recently changed Advanced Placement (AP) exam registration policies. Instead of students registering in March – just two months before the high-stakes exam in May – they are now requiring November registrations, well before students know whether or not they will be ready. They also decided to add $40 late and cancellation fees to increase the pressure. The College Board boasted that more low-income students registered for the AP exam as a result of this new policy, but they failed to disclose that more of these students also failed. Meanwhile, the supposed nonprofit – which profited over $200 million in 2016 and has $1.1 billion in cash and investments – is expected to earn an estimated $40 million more per year as a result of this shift. It seems that this entity which holds tremendous power over the future of young people makes decisions based on their bottom line, at students’ expense. Ripple worked with our client, Total Registration, high school counselor / superhero Jennifer Wander and petition-powerhouse change.org to shine a national spotlight on this issue which would have otherwise gone overlooked. We generated high-profile attention in Forbes, Inside Higher Ed, USA Today and the Washington Post, and helped place this op-ed by Jennifer in The 74, an influential education outlet. We also helped Jennifer’s petition against the College Board generate nearly 120,000 signatures! Unfortunately the College Board did not change back their new policy to what we wanted, but at least we raised a high-profile ruckus to add to the long list of College Board-related controversies. If people continue to hold them accountable they will be forced to listen.