What is the College Board?

By Catalogs Editorial Staff

Important for high schoolers, you should know what the College Board is

The College Board has a long history; so long in fact that you?re most likely aware of them even if you haven?t necessarily heard the name.

Going to college at the turn of the 19th century was, for the most part, reserved for the privileged few. Essentially those wealthy enough to send their kids off for a few years of top drawer learnin?. At that time, applying and being accepted to college was a bit onerous, to say the least. To get into a school, a prospective student would need to apply to, and pass an exam for, admission to each of the schools she was interested in.

Around that time a group of like-minded college deans, 12 of them to be precise, got together and determined that was asking a lot of these students, and the horses pulling their carriages all over creation. The result was a shared entrance exam, or college board, designed to identify academically deserving students. What really made the boards so popular were the results of the exam could be shared by multiple schools; simplifying the admissions process dramatically.

A lot has changed since then for the College Board, including the range of services offered for students aged from K-12 and to college-bound scholars. One of the more notable changes was the transition to the SAT exam in 1926. It, as you are likely aware, is the preeminent gauge of a student?s readiness for college and is used by most every university in the country.

The other services provided by the fine folks at the College Board include college readiness, college connection and success, and finally advocacy.

College Readiness

The college board provides students interested in attending college a number of preparatory services, such as the PSAT exam and others.

If you have a high school student in the family, it?s likely you?ve heard of the Advanced Placement (AP) classes offered at many schools. These advanced courses are the brainchild of the College Board and provide students the opportunity to gain college credit for classes taken in high school.

Connection and Success

In an effort to support students and their families in selecting and attending college, the College Board offers a host of services including college planning and search resources to assist students through the admissions process. There also resources to help secure scholarships and student financing.

Advocacy

To support strong academic standards and excellence in our schools, the College Board provides tools for teachers and administrators to help drive educational reform through awareness and policy changes.

The College Board has done a lot to make the process of finding and getting into college a lot easier for students and their families. They continue to work toward improving a less-than-ideal educational system; something we can all benefit from.