We all know the story at this point — despite calling itself a non-profit, the College Board makes over 1 billion dollars in revenue per year (as of 2017). The organization rakes in massive amounts of money on the SAT, PSAT, and AP tests that students are essentially forced to take to get into college. But their latest scheme to pawn high school kids across the country of their money involves new deadlines.

In the past, students taking AP courses were given the option to register for AP exams beginning February 1st, and the registration period extended through the entire month. For most students, this deadline is a few weeks into their second semester, so they have a good idea of what classes they like and/or are doing well in. Typically, when students (especially those who take multiple AP classes) register for the exams, they will choose their best subjects.  After all, why pay over $90 to take an AP exam that you expect to bomb?

Because of the usual February registration dates, kids are able to make an educated choice about where to spend their money in order to achieve the highest level of success — a 4 or 5 on the test (which is what most colleges require to give credit for the class).

However, with the College Board’s latest changes (let’s be honest — it’s a never-ending process), AP registration will have a preferred deadline towards the end of October and a final deadline sometime in November, beginning in the fall of 2019 for exams taken in the spring of 2020. For most students, this new deadline falls towards the end of or shortly after students’ first quarter.

Often, it takes students several weeks to truly settle into their classes, figure out the best study methods, and discover if they truly understand the material. For classes like AP Physics 1&2, students would have to choose to register for the Physics 2 exam before they encounter an ounce of the material in their class. Having to register so early in the year may cause many students to recklessly sign up for tests they otherwise would not take and waste their money on a score that may not be satisfactory in the future. Of course, this is what the College Board wants — after all, it is all about the money.

The other possible consequence of the changing AP registration deadlines are specific to graduating seniors. As seniors apply to colleges in the fall and winter of their school year, some choose to apply to schools with either Early Decision or Early Action. These students will typically hear from their hopeful universities by the middle of December. At present, if a senior is accepted, the current AP registration deadline gives them time to investigate their respective schools’ AP credit policies in order to see what exams they accept for credit. If that senior takes a class for which the school does not give credit, they would never spend their money and sign up to take said exam.

Naturally, the College Board is attempting to cast a positive light on its decision to revamp registration process.  As stated on the College Board’s website, “We’ve heard words like ‘engaged,’ ‘confident’ and ‘less likely to give up’ when students register in the fall—and that commitment translates into more students taking the exam and earning college credit.”

However, by moving the registration deadline, the College Board knows exactly what it is doing — forcing seniors to register for all their AP tests just in case the colleges they apply to do accept them for credit, in turn making much more money than they would have otherwise.

The motivation is obvious: For as much as they want students to believe that the new AP changes are to their benefit, the money the College Board will make says otherwise.