College Board Goes to Trade School

James G. Martin Center for Academic Renewal ^ | February 7, 2025 | Richard Phelps

[karpov]

Two outstanding situations sometimes warrant government intervention in the marketplace. First, “natural monopoly” providers, such as public utilities, would charge all the market could bear without government regulation. Second, unprofitable markets, such as those for orphan drugs and certain types of research and development, would not exist to meet certain public needs absent government subsidies or donor contributions.

Yet, confusion and “market failures” abound when government-subsidized or nonprofit entities compete in the marketplace with private, taxpaying entities. Consider the mid-20th-century prospects of private U.S. railroads, which purchased all the land and laid all the rail on their own roads, competing against truckers operating on government-provided roads.

College Board: Benevolent or Mercenary

The College Entrance Examination Board (College Board) often promotes itself as a public servant of the second monopoly type that exists to serve otherwise unmet societal needs. Its Advanced Placement (AP) program, for example, is the only one of its kind—a standardized, advanced-credit credential recognized throughout the United States. If not for AP, there might be no such service.

Their other major product—the SAT Suite of Tests—operates in a duopoly with competitor ACT but maintains some monopoly components.

College Board’s early history would support this view. Shortly after World War II, during a key phase in the history of educational testing, College Board joined with the Carnegie Foundation and the American Council on Education (ACE) to create the Educational Testing Service (ETS), an independent scientific community dedicated to developing and administering standardized tests. ETS was handed responsibility for several ongoing testing programs, including the National Teacher Examinations (from ACE), the Graduate Record Examinations (from Carnegie), and the Scholastic Aptitude Test (from College Board). Some programs became ETS’s to own, others just to manage. All the programs met important public needs, but none were moneymakers at the time.

[nopardons]

BTTT

[Carry_Okie]

Very insightful piece, thank you.

[Honorary Serb]

I took the College Boards way back, as well as Advanced Placement tests in Calculus and Chemistry. The tests helped me get into MIT and advance place General Chemistry and one term of Calculus.

If they were good enough for me, they are good enough for Gen Z!