History

At its founding in 1900, the College Board was organized to help high school students make a successful transition to higher education. At that time, the handful of colleges that formed the membership association known as the College Entrance Examination Board sought to simplify the application process for students and for those colleges' admission offices.

With the College Board's revolutionary development of common entrance examinations—later known as the SAT Program or Scholastic Assessment Tests—students could apply to a number of institutions without having to sit for entrance examinations at each one. The new assessments also had another democratizing benefit: individuals could provide evidence of their credentials without regard to their family backgrounds and despite inconsistent grading systems and curriculum standards throughout the nation's high schools.

The development of a common entrance examination was only a beginning. The membership association developed additional assessments to provide assistance in placement and the awarding of college credit, such as the Advanced Placement Program and the College-Level Examination Program. Resources to help students conduct successful college searches were compiled, printed, and eventually made available electronically in software products and on the Internet. The College Scholarship Service^® was organized to provide financial aid information and assistance, so that no prepared student would be denied access to higher education because of lack of funds. Special projects were developed to help improve the academic performance of secondary school students and prepare them for college.

At the beginning of the twenty-first century, the College Board is the nation's recognized leader in assisting students in the transition to higher education. While most of the Board's programs, products, and services support the work of its member institutions, its focus, like theirs, remains ultimately on the success of individual students in higher education.