Overview

The SAT and ACT have been nonprofit for 125 years and were built with your tax dollars to give every student a fair shot at college and scholarships. Now, over 4-million exams are taken yearly. These mandatory exams, paid with public tax money, are the most significant tests most students will ever take—life changing in many cases because they decide college admissions and allocate billions in public scholarships.

Enter the private equity wolves 

Sniffing the scent of big dollars inside the nonprofit standardized exam world, these PE wolves want to rip apart the nonprofit system and appropriate it for their personal private profit.  In 2024, Nexus Capital, a private equity giant, picked off the 65-year-old nonprofit that runs the ACT Exam.  After seizing control, they immediately sued to ban independent prep to stop others from properly preparing students: no teachers, tutors, software, classes, nonprofits, or free programs allowed.

If they win, Nexus Capital will stand at the front doors of colleges and decide who gets in. 

Specifically:

• Students won’t know what’s on the test, unless they pay Nexus Capital.
• Nexus Capital will control who prepares and how they prepare.
• Nexus Capital will set the price.
• Nexus Capital will pick the winners (college entrance and scholarships).
• Low to middle-income students, along with military, and homeschool students will be hit hardest with $2,000 to $5,000 prep.

Unfortunately, this isn’t just about the ACT. It’s the nightmare blueprint for privatizing every standardized test in America. The same will happen with law school, med school, business school, teachers, and all other licensed professionals who take exams will be impacted.

What you can do

The Standardized Testing Equity Act (STEA).  Your signature directs congress to support STEA.  It applies to organization that produces standardized exams used by public institutions (e.g., K-12 schools, colleges, universities) or other institutions that receive federal or state tax dollars.  It:

1. Requires organization to release all retired/used questions into the public domain within 2-years for use by individuals, organizations, groups, students, or schools.
2. Amends U.S. copyright law (17 U.S.C. § 107) to explicitly designate the use of retired/used standardized exam questions as de facto Fair Use, protecting such use from legal challenges.
3. Prohibits the conversion of nonprofit exam organizations to for-profit entities to preserve public-interest governance.

Your signature isn't just a gesture; it's a statement that you believe in an education system where every student, regardless of background or financial status, should have access to the tools they need to succeed. 

Donations tax-deductible: www.NCTPF.org   

Please sign the petition and join the fight.

Sincerely,

Scott Hildebrandt, JD MPA

The National College Test Prep Foundation, CEO

https://nctpf.org/