The College Board — oh yes, that nonprofit organization that does the testing that enables kids to go to college. What would we do without it?

In today’s Martin Center article, Richard Phelps takes a rather dim view of The College Board. Instead of a great benefactor, he sees it as an aggressive pseudo-governmental entity that prospers at considerable public expense.

He writes:

The federal government distributes substantial sums of money to the College Board for a variety of purposes. College Board’s formula for soliciting funds is to evoke sympathy for the poor and cite equity concerns. For example, shouldn’t all students enjoy the opportunity to benefit from AP courses and tests, even those who cannot themselves afford the exam fee? Over the past couple of decades, federal, state, and local governments and foundations have helped boost steep growth in the number of schools offering AP courses in even in the poorest neighborhoods and even, some charge, by enrolling thousands of unprepared students lacking relevant prerequisites.

And now, Phelps reports, it wants to expand into trade school preparation with something called Career Kickstart. Okay, but why should anyone care? It’s good for many young people to think about occupations rather than automatically heading off to college, isn’t it?

But there are already lots of opportunities for career-minded students. This is a need already being met. Why should we be concerned if CB wants in?

Phelps explains: “First, as a nonprofit corporation, they pay few taxes, unlike their for-profit competitors. Second, they can offload some expenses onto schools — regular salaried teachers teach the AP program in their own school classrooms, something most of their competitors do not or cannot match. Third, in addition to this in-kind subsidy, College Board may appeal to various governments for public funding for fee waivers and such and to generous citizens for their volunteer time.”

The College Board should be free to try whatever it wants, but let’s shut off the flow of subsidies.