It’s that time of year, NASH. Most of us are in that phase of worrying either about college acceptance or SAT scores, which can be more stressful than we want it to be.

In times like these, it is imperative to surround yourself with true friends who will aid you in the process of managing the stress that comes with the territory. So let me offer you a word of advice: The College Board is not your friend.    

College is expensive enough as it is, with student loan debt totaling around 1.3 trillion dollars spread out among nearly 44 million borrowers, nearly 2.5 times higher than the figures from two decades ago, according to the Pew Research Center. However, The College Board does not seem to take much mind of this, as it continues to raise prices for both its SAT tests and AP exams on a yearly basis. Though it may only be a two or three dollar increase, the prices are already costly.

The slowly increasing prices aren’t where the College Board is solely increasing its revenue, however. The fees that are added to seemingly every aspect of the College Board’s services are another robust source of income for the organization. Many colleges still require the SAT essay, raising the cost of the test from $46 to 60$. If you sign up late, CB charges you an additional $29, and if you file under wait-list testing, the charge surges to $49 extra. Those are just some of the additional fees that the College Board has weaseled out of our families’ bank accounts.

AP Exam prices are even worse. The price of an AP Exam is already much higher than that of the SAT, and it is more often than not that NA students take more than one for the year.  The College Board’s site lists this year’s per-test fee at $94.00, $85 of which goes to the CB with the remaining $9.00 designated as a school rebate.  Late exam orders and late payments can add as much as $225 to the bill.

Yes, students may save a good deal more than they spent on AP Exams if their colleges award credit.  But, according to MSN Money, only 66% of the nation’s colleges and universities award some form of credit for AP scores in the passing range, and many of the top schools offer little to no credit.  Nevertheless, AP enrollment across the country continues to break records.

And just when we thought they couldn’t get more greedy, the CB offers the Subject Tests, standardized tests similar to the first section of an AP Exam.  If you earn a passing grade on your AP Exam, then wouldn’t it make sense for that score to exempt you from a subject test in the same subject? After all, your performance on the AP Exam demonstrates subject proficiency.  It seems that the Subject Tests are largely just another way to drain you and your parents of what money you have left before the first tuition bill arrives.  

Don’t believe that the increase in prices is unwarranted? Then get a load of this: According to an article posted by Accuracy in Academia, a nonprofit research organization in Washington D.C., the ex-president of the College Board “earned $1,147,739 in bonuses in addition to his $445,095 base salary and $203,048 in other compensation.” According to The New York Times, current College Board CEO David Coleman received “$1.3 million [and] will earn a base of $550,000, with total compensation of nearly $750,000.”

This isn’t a problem that only affects the juniors who must sign up for these tests — it also affects seniors who must send their scores to colleges through the College Board.   Seniors must pay a fee of 12 dollars for the CB to hit a button. And if they want the scores to arrive at a reasonable time –which shouldn’t be hard in our digital age– they must pay a “rush charge” fee. But it’s probably just 5 or 6 dollars, right? Wrong. Students who wish to use the “rush charge” must pay an additional 19 dollars! That is 160 % more than the original price.

Of course, it’s understandable that the College Board needs money to pay test writers, proctors, and scorers, in addition to employees on the administrative side of the operation.  But we’ve gotten to the point where it appears that the organization is taking advantage of its near-monopoly on the market.  And, no, the ACT pricing structure isn’t much better.

Is there an end in sight to this epidemic? Not yet, though the test-optional movement among college admissions offices is on the march. One thing’s for sure, however: Every empire must fall, and greed will likely be the culprit in the College Board’s eventual demise.