Cashing in on Student Data: Standardized Testing and Predatory College Marketing in the United States

Abstract

In this thesis, I explore the ethics of educational data collection associated with standardized testing in K-12 schools in the United States. While the public has become aware of issues surrounding data collection, distribution, and analysis in online spaces, this discourse has not fully extended into education. I extend the discourse surrounding consumer data privacy to educational spaces in order to investigate how standardized testing organizations such as the College Board violate norms of privacy in an effort to profit off of the sale of student data. I argue that the College Board’s operation of the Student Search Service, a service that not only provides students with marketing outreach from universities but also provides universities and other organizations with large quantities of student data, is an example of surveillance capitalism that enables predatory marketing practices surrounding the college admissions process. I rely upon historical research, policy analysis, primary source research, and interviews in order to analyze the actions of the College Board and connect those actions to predatory practices within higher education, delving into a discussion of enrollment management, predatory lending, and for-profit colleges. Ultimately, I outline a need for greater transparency around organizational data practices, greater enforcement of existing regulations, and enactment of new privacy laws in order to minimize the potential for harm on K-12 students in the United States.