Editorial: Preparing for college too costly

Tuition, housing, meals, books — we all know the steep expenses of college. But what about the costs of getting accepted?

Preparation for the SAT and ACT, the country’s two primary college admissions tests, is too costly, as a recent article in The New York Times highlighted.

Students have increasingly turned to prep courses and individual tutoring to boost their scores. How can you blame them? As Robert Schaeffer, public education director of FairTest, a nonprofit that advocates against the overuse and misuse of standardized tests, has said, students and parents are engaged in a college admissions “arms race.” The free market reflects this. 

Companies such as The Princeton Review and Kaplan provide this service. A 30-hour group session with The Princeton Review usually costs between $1,000 and $1,600. 

Furthermore, according to The New York Times, individual tutoring has become popular. But this is where costs skyrocket. ArborBridge, which provides online tutoring via video conference, offers a 60-hour test prep package for around $9,000. The average cost of paying in-state tuition at a four-year public university is $8,700. That means for some, ArborBridge’s 60-hour prep package equates to more than a year’s tuition. Yet, this number is diminutive compared to another private tutoring option.

New York-based tutor Anthony-James Green has made headlines for his hourly prep price — roughly $1,000 per hour. Green promises to increase his students’ SAT scores by 400 points. Even so, such a rate reflects the prep industry’s high market value.

Tutors and companies have every right to charge these prices, but students should have efficacious and economical alternatives.

The New York Times article states that The College Board, the nonprofit organization behind the SAT, is working with Khan Academy, a free online tutoring service, to construct a free preparation program for students.

Khan academy is free, efficient and easily navigable. Its broad subject scope allows students to effectively learn a multitude of information and skills. Khan Academy’s entrance into the test prep industry is advantageous to all students striving to cost-effectively increase their scores. The College Board and Khan Academy’s collaborative project is set to debut next spring, in time to prepare for The College Board’s new SAT, which will arrive in 2016.

College students already face an abundance of costs while in college. The least we can do is work to lower costs beforehand. Free or lower-cost alternatives to high-priced prep courses and tutoring are the best way to counter the college admissions arms race and diminish the economic burden placed on students applying to college.