Follow the Money
The College Board is designated as a 'Not-For-Profit' by the IRS but does generate "excess revenue" (revenue - expenses). That begs the question: How much money does the College Board have, make, and spend? Total Registration has researched the College Board's finances using publically accessible financial records. Through this research we have discovered the College Board generated excess revenue, most companies call this profit, for the past 15 years.
$1,775,694,188.00
In 2023, the most recent 990 available, the College Board held $1,775,694,188 in Cash and Investments. They hold over 1.77 BILLION dollars that can be used to finance any College Board related activity.
14 of the past 16 years of IRS filings indicate that the College Board's profit as ranged from 4% to 14%. Which means, that after all expenses (salaries, exam materials, scoring, shipping, etc.) the College Board keeps between 4 to 14 of every 100 dollars it takes in. How does it use the extra cash? Investments. In 2023 the College Board had $63,136,351 in investment gains alone.
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Here is a brief summary of College Board finances:
| Tax Year |
Revenue | Expenses | Profit | Cash + Investments |
# of AP Exams |
AP Exam Fee |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | $99 | |||||
| 2024 | 5,744,259 | $98 | ||||
| 2023 | $1,019,073,270 | $973,652,927 | $45,420,343 | $1,775,694,188 | 5,197,601 | $97 |
| 2022 | $1,040,203,098 | $894,366,567 | $145,836,531 | $1,574,183,717 | 4,762,347 | $96 |
| 2021 | $983,201,971 | $870,784,495 | $112,417,476 | $1,669,268,522 | 4,578,302 | $95 |
| 2020 | $779,610,600 | $862,417,908 | $-82,807,308 | $1,465,739,513 | 4,751,957 | $94 |
| 2019 | $1,107,897,207 | $1,049,304,734 | $58,592,473 | $1,313,429,461 | 5,098,815 | $94 |
| 2018 | $1,073,678,672 | $979,521,189 | $94,157,483 | $1,152226,448 | 5,090,324 | $94 |
| 2017 | $1,067,701,847 | $927,784,350 | $139,917,497 | $1,111,851,062 | 4,957,931 | $94 |
| 2016 | $942,621,972 | $905,054,378 | $37,567,594 | $885,062,957 | 4,704,980 | $92 |
| 2015 | $915,776,813 | $838,417,778 | $77,359,035 | $843,049,505 | 4,478,936 | $91 |
| 2014* | - | - | - | $833,083,475 | 4,176,200 | $89 |
| 2013 | $840,672,990 | $741,778,125 | $98,894,865 | $832,905,923 | 3,938,100 | $89 |
| 2012 | $795,817,602 | $740,561,685 | $55,255,917 | $610,429,516 | 3,698,407 | $87 |
| 2011 | $758,985,414 | $713,755,580 | $71,675,145 | $560,176,503 | 3,456,020 | $87 |
| 2010 | $720,650,408 | $648,975,263 | $65,634,741 | $444,339,911 | 3,213,225 | $86 |
| 2009 | $659,809,288 | $594,174,547 | $53,345,767 | $426,570,867 | 2,929,929 | $86 |
| 2008 | $623,039,302 | $569,693,535 | $39,127,848 | $350,695,990 | 2,736,445 | $83 |
| 2007 | $621,042,351 | $581,914,503 | $55,108,238 | $393,245,000 | 2,533,431 | $83 |
* Change in Accounting Year from Jul-Jun to Jan-Dec
Notice a trend?
The College Board has increased cash & investments for 16 out of 17 years as reported above (2008 is an exception, but if you invest you understand why). But don't just take our word for it, check out the College Board's 990s (an annual information return that most 501(c)(3) organizations claiming federal tax-exempt status must file yearly) on Pro Publica.
College Board's Revenue
College Board's Profit
College Board's Cash + Investments
History - # AP Exams & AP Exam Fee
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