One of the defining moments of a college bound young adult is the tumultuous college admissions process. Marred with ups and downs, and immense anxiety about getting into top institutions, this process is a stressful time for millions of students. There are huge monopolies in the college admissions process, from Common App to Collegeboard and even some of the institutions themselves, with the colleges knowing just how elite they are, and taking full advantage of this. Because of this immense amount of monopolies and lack of competition, these companies take full advantage of the students they are supposed to be helping, every single step of the way. This not only prevents low-income and underprivileged students from obtaining higher education, it also makes elite institutions such as Ivy League universities available only to those who can afford it. This idea of only those who can afford it going to college goes against the founding principle of college admissions, and those who deserve to get in.
One of the biggest monopolies in college admissions takes advantage of students even before they start applying, it starts the minute they enter high school. Collegeboard is the company that runs AP and IB courses, as well as administering the SAT, SAT subject tests, and ACT. AP and IB courses are advanced classes that offer opportunities for students to gain college credit, but only by taking and scoring well on standardized tests. The SAT and its assorted tests, and the ACT are both the standard college placement tests, and a good score on these tests can determine how elite the colleges are that you get into. However, all these mandatory or highly recommended things cost money. Lots of money. AP tests cost over $90, and to even get into the IB program it is a $172 yearly fee, and $119 per exam. The SATs cost anywhere from $64-94 depending on the time of registration, with additional charges depending on what additions you got to the test, and how many colleges you send your scores too. The ACTs are similar, ranging from $55-70 as well. With all these costs, it seems natural that Collegeboard makes a lot of money. This assumption is correct. Collegeboard’s executive makes over a million dollars per year, with top executives making anywhere from $300,000-500,000 per year. The salt on this wound, however, is the fact that Collegeboard is classified as a 501c nonprofit. How does a nonprofit manage to line the pockets of its executives so much? It is obvious that Collegeboard is taking advantage of students purely for financial gain, and fails to make its test any less accessible and include to hide higher education behind a paywall for students. (All statistics from www.collegeboard.org).
The second large barrier that students face when applying to college is application fees. These fees supposedly cover the costs of reviewing the thousands of applications that colleges get every year, but some colleges seem to charge based on prestige rather than cost of labor. With most Ivy League colleges charging around $75 per application, the question that most applicants surely wonder, is this really necessary? College application fees serve as just another barrier for lower income students, and while there are some options for fee-waiving, many colleges do not offer this. When seeing these outrageous fees for simply submitting an application, not even including the tens of thousands of dollars colleges expect in tuition, many applicants are left wondering, why? The answer is simple. Colleges want to attract people who can pay their outrageous tuition, those who don’t need scholarships or grants, those with wealthy parents who are willing to pay any amount to have their child get accepted into these schools. With growing media coverage of college admissions, especially the recent college admissions scandal in Hollywood focusing on Lori Loughlin’s family, it is even clearer the lengths that some parents will go to get their children ahead in life. Colleges abandon the idea of meritocracy in favor of those who can pay their way into school.
While this information may seem depressing and overwhelming, there are some ways to get around these financial barriers. With lots of colleges offering fee waivers for low-income students, and Collegeboard also offering such scholarships for the SAT and ACT, there are ways to pay for this. Additionally, there are many grants and scholarships that students of any income level can apply to, to help pay for college and the many costs associated with it. If you are smart and resourceful, there are certainly a lot of ways for you to avoid and not have to pay all those fees.
This idea of colleges and the surrounding monopolies and institutions involved in admissions simply wanting your money is very evident to anyone involved in this process, yet any change has yet to be made. This is why ideas for free higher education have been ever popular in the past couple years, as students and their parents get more and more fed up with these predatory practices. The key in defeating these institutions is to stay aware, and tell your local congressperson that you will not continue to be abused and run dry by predatory “non-profits”.