By Elizabeth Hoerter ’25, Executive Editor-in-Chief, and Joanne Zhang ’25, Editor-in-Chief
For students across the nation, the SAT, Advanced Placement Program, BigFuture, and Bluebook are fixtures of high school life. All of these products and programs are run by one company: the College Board.
The College Board, founded more than 120 years ago, was a not-for-profit organization until September, when its leadership announced a sweeping change to the company’s brand identity and mission statement.
After an executive meeting and a unanimous vote for the change, the previously-not-for-profit updated its organization statement with an additional clause: “The College Board believes that with hard work, rigor, focus, and a little cash, a student can achieve anything.”
“As one of the only organizations streamlining a standardized, quality education experience for millions, we can jack up our prices and get away with just about anything,” said the College Board’s chief financial officer, Dr. Greedeigh Furkash, in a paid interview with The Bradford.
“Was it necessary? No. Was it optional? Yes. Did we do it? Also yes,” she said. “It’s called ‘price inelasticity’, and you can watch our AP Microeconomics Daily Video 2.4 to learn more about it for just $1.99.”
The College Board website was down the morning after Furkash’s announcement, with the home page blank except for a message: “Big things are coming.” The following day, most existing content for services like SAT and AP Classroom had been overhauled.
“I have an AP Environmental Science test tomorrow, so I tried to log in to AP Classroom and watch the AP Daily Video. It was supposed to be about nuclear energy, but instead I got a ‘Tuttle Twins’ lesson called ‘Don’t Trash Success’,” said Harmony Greenburg ’26.
“Tuttle Twins” is a conservative children’s series that teaches principles from the libertarian right in cartoon format.
After Greenburg watched this video through her College Board account, a charge for $1.99 appeared on her debit card. Greenburg reported the charge as fraud, but the report was deemed invalid.
“Part of our new profit-centric model is compensation for our lesson developers here at corporate,” said Furkash, “and that means students have to start paying up. Back in the days of the one-room schoolhouse, kids paid for their books. We’re just honoring patriotic American history and common-sense financial literacy.”
With the College Board’s pivot has come the offering of a new program: Golden Gate. For educational institutions wishing to move entirely to pre-recorded lessons, Golden Gate offers modules for each year of high school.
The first-year module costs $8,995, and students wishing to add additional course offerings — such as AP Cryptocurrency and AP Fiscal Concealment — must pay $565 per class.
“Yeah, Elon paid for the production of both of those. Now, we’re even thinking of opening up a corporate lobby to continue these investments,” Furkash said. “Letting go of the whole ‘not-for-profit’ thing was like a weight being lifted off our shoulders.”
Within Wellesley, local private school Twinkle Academy has decided to forgo live instruction in favor of Golden Gate.
“It’s simple: The luckiest kids from the most generous families come to our school for an education that equips them for the future. We all know the real future that matters is college, not K-12 education,” said Twinkle Academy Principal Ms. Gladys Shrekly.
After the switch to Golden Gate, 68 percent of Twinkle Academy’s 25 seniors reported admission to at least one Ivy League university.
“AP classes are what really matter, because things like health or gym just take time away from the grind,” said Jaxson Branson ’25.
Branson originally wanted to carry on his family legacy at Boston College, but after Golden Gate boosted his GPA by 1.4 points, he knew he could reach for an even more selective institution.
“While it did cost me $973 just to send my grades, SAT score, and AP exam scores, I’m proud to announce my acceptance to Yale University. I’m gonna be on the pre-investment banking track, but I also want to get a certificate in centrist studies,” said Branson.
Meanwhile, within the school district, students at the high school are picking up the pace to keep up with their private school counterparts.
“It’s been all the buzz at the high school, and it sounds like competition is the new trend here,” said Officer Patrick Door, the high school’s senior resource officer. “I wouldn’t have known if it weren’t for the girls who come up to rant to me during lunch, because they’re the reason I put down my headset, turn off my Xbox, and come to work.”
Students ranging from freshmen to seniors are scrambling to plan course selection while maximizing potential for admission to top schools.
“After hearing about the College Board’s changes, I panicked because I knew taking just AP Economics wouldn’t be enough to get into college,” said Will Minton ’25. “My classmate Jaxson transferred to Twinkle Academy to get ahead of the game with Golden Gate, so I started enrolling in financial literacy classes at MassBay to one-up him.”
Students like Minton report still spending thousands of dollars to enroll in such courses, encouraging the hunt for free alternatives.
“But what about Khan Academy?” said Rachel Pinto ’27.
A month after the College Board announced its new brand vision, Mr. Sal Khan, founder of Khan Academy, was found dead outside a Los Angeles kombucha co-op.
Next to Khan’s corpse laid a branded ice pick — the embossed logo featuring an acorn with accessories reminiscent of Mr. Monopoly.
According to Mr. Stephen Stephanopolous, a Los Angeles Police Department officer, two prime suspects, Education “Ed” Kachingski and Muigi Langione, are currently in custody. On February 14, both Kachingski and Langione pled not guilty to first degree homicide charges.
Incidentally, the College Board recently added two new job openings for the position of “competition mitigation specialist” on Indeed.com.
“Our thoughts and prayers are with his family after this heartbreaking, accidental incident,” said Mr. Joe Steely, the College Board’s press secretary.
The Bradford reached out to the College Board via their new customer support hotline to address growing student concerns about access and bias. Under the condition of anonymity, a representative agreed to speak with staff.
“Undeniably, the College Board’s ascent has been too linear, too perfect to be a coincidence,” they said. “And I don’t mean to be the whistleblower, but next on the agenda is Quizle—”
Unfortunately, the call then cut to static.
