Taking Advantage of the Advanced: College Board Scamming Students Through AP Courses The College Board created advanced placement, aka AP, courses in 1952 to close the learning gap between high school and college. (Tierney, John) They initially began with only eleven courses, but have matured to around thirty-four different courses. The courses were created by a committee of college professors, high school teachers and College Board members to ensure that the material was rigorous and difficult as a college class. The increased difficulty and rigor of the course would grant the student a college credit if they passed the exam. In the early years, the courses were available to the advanced students of large high schools; as time has passed, …show more content…
The previous statement was in response to a claim by John Tierney, a former college professor and high school teacher, that the College Board uses the students money to pay the extraordinary salary of the employees made in his article “AP Classes Are a Scam.” Tierney states that the College Board receives over half its revenue from the AP programs, and over 8.6 percent of the profit is revenue. (“AP Classes Are a Scam”) The College Board is a non-profit organization, so it should not be making such extravagant profits. The Americans for Educational Testing Reform, AETR, have given the College Board a grade of a D. This grade is determined by the compensation of the executives and the money spent on lobbying for standardized testing in the government. The AETR states that the CEO of the company is making over 444 percent more than the average CEO’s of other non-profits making $872,061 in 2009. The CEO of the College Board is making twice as much as the President of the United States. (Scorecard: College Board,
Dale Stephens argues that college isn’t right for everyone. He acknowledges that he left college because he believed that higher education isn’t everything. Dale clarifies that college is expensive. He refers to College Board Policy Center because tuition is about 3.6 times higher today than it was 30 years ago. He brings up good points but bases his ideas off his own opinions not facts. This is a strong argument because when the tuition is higher, it will be harder for and more people to pay for it. This encourages others to look for an alternative path to follow.
In the essay, “College Consumerism Run Amok” authored by Kevin Carey describe how colleges are careless with their money. Throughout the essay, Kevin Carey explains why normal people think the average price of college tuition has risen across the United States. People believe college tuition is rising because students demand colleges to have “creature comforts”, such as luxury dorms, a fully operational gym, and a climbing wall. Also, that the creation for “creature comforts” in colleges has caused academic standards to decline. Yet, colleges market to students with these amenities instead of showing students comparable statistics: the quality of teaching, scholarships, and academic environment. Kevin Carey, in the end, sums up his idea with
In his essay, “Why Colleges Shower Their Students with A’s,” Brent Staples argues that grade inflation in colleges results in college degrees becoming less valuable. Staples points out that grade inflation is happening among all colleges and there are many factors contributing to this problem. Colleges are willingly giving students good grades that they do not deserve so that the course will not be omitted from the lack of attendance. Part-time teachers’ jobs are at risk because their position is not guaranteed. These teachers were sometimes threatened by the students saying they will complain if their grades are not adjusted for a higher score. With this being said, students are putting pressure on teachers, causing their jobs to be in danger.
College is marketed towards students as an essential part of building a successful future. The United States “sells college” to those who are willing to buy into the business (Lee 671). With the massive amounts of student debts acquired every year, and the rising costs of
In all colleges in the United States, students are required to pay for their classes’ tuition either by themselves, their parents, guardians or a scholarship that they may have. The average tuition fee for an individu...
Recently the guidance department of Boston Latin School has instituted a new policy that limits the number of Advanced Placement classes students can enroll in during junior year. Previously students after being granted a waiver could take a maximum of four AP classes. However under the new guidelines all juniors are restricted to three. This is unfair to students who seek to reach their full academic potential.
High school students everywhere in the United States make very selective class choices based on careers they may want to pursue in the future. One decision that the students may make is to take an AP class. Among students, when they hear the name AP they automatically think stress, and homework, and tests; however it also means college credit, and advanced placement and promises a future. What if the College Board changed the benefits and decided that if the school board had a problem with the crew framework and felt the need to change it, then this AP class wouldn't be worth anything in college? The promises of college credit and advanced classes would be ripped from the students' hands, and the choices they made in order to take this
John Steinbeck and Martin Luther King, Jr. (MLK Jr.) have both gone down in American literature as some of the most influential authors, but why? Steinbeck was an influential author throughout the 20th century with pieces in many genres. On the flip side is Martin Luther King, Jr., a civil rights leader in the fight against racial discrimination. In order to gain a deeper understanding of the style of these two authors, it is necessary to compare them on the bases of repetition, tone, and purpose.
When I was first accepted into the AP Language & Composition course, I felt overwhelmed. I had always received above average grades in all subject areas, but because this was an AP course I was unsure if my English skills were up to par. During the summer, my anxiety about the course increased. I began to feel that my writing skills were inferior to the skills of my peers’. Before this course, I did not have a developed writing voice or style. I had little knowledge of what phrases or words to avoid using in writing. I started to wonder if I truly belonged in an AP course. After having completed this course, I have a better grasp of the English language and have acquired skills that have improved my writing.
College has long been a bastion of hope for those not fortunate enough to inherit a business or fortune from their predecessors, on the other side of the coin; it has also been the site of major controversy and debate, especially surrounding the ever-growing cost of attendance and the rewards that a degree realistically gives onto its holder. The debate is not a new one, but with the recent economic downturn, and the vast sums of new college graduates entering the world without the chance of finding a job, more fuel was added to the fire, and the debate began anew. In order to present new arguments on both sides, articles have been written and published in major newspapers like The Economist and The New York Times, with some varying data and conclusions. David Leonhardt, author of the article published in the NYT by the name of, “Is College Worth?
Combine this information with the equally troubling information released by Bloomberg stating “college tuition and fees have increased 1,120 percent since records began in 1978” and a serious financial problem for students emerges (Huffington Post, 2012). One thing should be clear given these statistics: something must be done to help lessen the financial burden being placed on today’s students. Considering the implications of these two figures, the University of Delaware should attempt to remedy the increasing cost of textbooks as soon as possible before they overwhelm students any more than they already have. In order to help reduce these runaway costs, this institution should pursue a policy similar to those high schools and elementary schools practice, namely a sort of loan program. In order to best understand why implementing such a loan program would be most beneficial to the students, one must understand why textbook prices have spiraled out of control.
“The NCAA takes in about $800 million in revenue a year from the 'March Madness ' men 's basketball tournament”(Majerol). Just for a couple of months of basketball games, not including every other sport or season game, $800,000,000 is obtained. None of this money goes to the players that are playing the game and earning the money for the school and the NCAA. “The NCAA could take even a portion of the $80 million surplus and dish out the money back to the very students who directly contribute to the accumulation of such high revenue”(Wesley). With all the extra money that this not for profit organization has, they should award a stipend that will lend a hand to the students with their living
Many of those same students end up working the same jobs that students that did graduate are also working, such as serving in restaurants or driving trucks. He believes that colleges use grossly misleading information stating, “college graduates earn more than non-college graduates.” Nemko goes on to explain that what many colleges and universities say in their brochures and on their websites, is very different from the reality of what type of education the students will receive. He states that colleges and universities with research centers are mostly for profit at the cost of the student’s education and finances. He uses the example that large lecture classes are designed to maximize that number of students attend thus more money for college while the quality of education is diminishing. Nemko also points out that college graduates “proficient in prose literacy have actually declined from 40 to 31 percent in the last decade.” He proposes some ideas that he thinks would hold colleges accountable such as adding national testing
With the rapid growth of college tuition, it has become an important issue in higher education. College Tuition is simply defined as the charge or fee for instruction, at a private school or a college or a university. Most people agree today that college tuition is too high or that it needs to be completely dismissed. There are some however, that may disagree with the claim about college tuition and state that college tuition is necessary for college growth, and it’s primary purpose is to pay for college expenses to support the institution financially. Research shows that college tuition is too high and that debt has become a standard in America after attending post-secondary school.
Due to the immense popularity of college athletics and the large profits that colleges receive from these sports, it...