Recent research suggests that student lists have surprisingly large effects on college access outcomes for millions of students each year. The College Board Student Search Service product allows accredited institutions to “license” the contact information of test-takers.
This report from the Institute for College Access & Success examines the lists produced by the College Board and the search filters used. According to the report, common filters employed by universities, including GPAs, SAT scores, states of residence, ZIP codes and student race or ethnicity, can exclude low-income communities and students of color.
This report is part of a broader project on the student list business, which resulted in three reports. The first describes the market for student list data and how that market is changing as a result of technological advances, entry by for-profit interests, and the test-optional movement. The second report analyzes student lists purchased from College Board.