College Board Reviews
73% would recommend to a friend
(577 total reviews)
David Coleman
74% approve of CEO
Top Review Highlights by Sentiment
Excerpts from user reviews, not authored by Glassdoor
- "Senior leadership makes poor decisions on hiring incompetent people and laying off competent people." (in 45 reviews)
- "Management is poor, and they frown on risk takers and people who think outside the box." (in 23 reviews)
- "design and development teams are split in two cities and run by different managers" (in 17 reviews)
- "Extremely top heavy organization with too many layers of middle and upper management." (in 12 reviews)
Ratings by Demographics
This rating reflects the overall rating of College Board and is not affected by filters.
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Found 577 of over 702 reviews
Updated Dec 4, 2023
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- 5.0Nov 7, 2023CoordinatorCurrent Employee
Pros
Flexible and lots of vacation
Cons
Pay. Constant change in admin
- 4.0Aug 29, 2023Software EngineerCurrent Employee, more than 3 yearsReston, VA
Pros
-Great work environment overall. -Team has several talented individuals who are willing to help each other. - Majority are remote and looks like it will continue that way. -Food and refreshments are served for people attending the 2 days at the Reston office.
Cons
-Excellence Awards is enforced upon the team by Executive Director Leadership- people are constantly "encouraged" to write about their team mates if they don't want it to reflect badly on the team and individuals. -Executive Directors have created a insulated buffer between upper Management VPs and the teams so everything gets managed up. The underlying issues of unnecessary overwork, micromanagement, excessive meetings and wastage of resources never surface to upper management. -Encouragement to provide team and project feedback is met with severe backlash from Leadership who don't want PowerFaids upper management disturbed with any grievances whatsoever. - People are constantly shuffled around on a monthly basis with recommendations from leadership Executive Directors. Team members are forced to thank leadership for making the decisions for them and the project. -One on one sessions with Executive Directors are specifically used to interrogate and source extra information about other team members. (gossip)
4
College Board Response4wThank you for sharing your feedback on working at College Board. We are proud of the collaborative work environment we foster and stand by offering our employees with the choice of working fully remote or hybrid to accommodate their needs. We are disappointed to hear and are concerned about your experience with leadership. We hold our managers to a high bar and standard. We expect them to lead highly effective teams and coach individuals to greatness. They are accountable for creating a safe space for open and honest feedback. If you have not already, we encourage you to share your concerns with your talent business partner.
- 2.0Nov 17, 2023Anonymous EmployeeFormer Employee, more than 3 yearsNew York, NY
Pros
I made some good friends working there and overall it was a learning experience like everything in life.
Cons
It's taken me a while to gather my thoughts on my time at the College Board. Looking back, I'm disheartened by the way my manager handled our team. Having gained managerial experience elsewhere, I've come to realize that prioritizing the team's well-being and growth is paramount. During my nearly 4-year tenure, despite delivering exceptional results for the organization, my efforts were barely acknowledged with a meager 2% raise and no recognition. Reflecting on that period, it's evident how my manager aimed to keep me down. The leadership was lacking, especially considering the significance of the work we were doing. Now, as a parent guiding my teen through the college application process, I'm seeing firsthand the exorbitant fees charged to families, juxtaposed with the unfair treatment of employees. It's disheartening because I once believed in David Coleman's progressive vision, hoping for a workplace where employees' happiness and well-being were prioritized.
- 4.0Dec 2, 2023ArchitectCurrent Employee
Pros
Good place to work for if you're an engineer and are interested in new technology. CB continue to renew its technology stack and the tools to deliver. Remote work policy is great Good Benefits
Cons
Team subculture varies. Your experience will be greatly determined by the team you're on. Work life balance is not always possible
- 4.0Nov 29, 2023Associate DirectorFormer Employee, more than 1 yearNew York, NY
Pros
Great pay, great perks, great location and remote opps
Cons
Departments compete against each other and leadership seems to live in a bubble about the "good" they are doing for students. They seem more interested in marketing to students than helping them out. Selling is the bottom line.
- 3.0Aug 13, 2023ManagerCurrent Employee, more than 8 yearsNew York, NY
Pros
Good Benefits - retirement contribution with match, great healthcare, week of Christmas off, PTO-sick leave pretty generous, 2 month paternity leave for either parent. After working for 5 years, you can get tuition assistance for your dependents. Mostly remote which makes it much easier to balance work/life demands. Very smart and committed people work there who really do care about creating opportunities and supporting students who want to make college a reality. Company matches charitable donations. True sense of community within some departments. C-levels do seem to know employees at all levels. If you are patient, there is opportunity to grow in the company and work in different and very cool departments.
Cons
Exceptionally woke company led by CEO w/liberal white savior complex - if you are center left or middle, keep your head down and opinions to yourself. If you move to a lower cost of living location you will get a salary cut. If you are hired, negotiate for the highest salary possible as there are limits to internal raises if promoted. Raises for exceptional output and promotions are only twice a year instead of as earned and visibility into decisions is limited. Salaries are low for employees at the bottom of the ladder, but very generous for those at the top . No work being done to support career training - focus seems to be solely on getting kids into college. Diversity measures superficially focused on skin color instead of being more inclusive about culture, experience, identification, etc.
7 - 4.0Nov 30, 2023Associate DirectorCurrent Employee, more than 5 yearsNew York, NY
Pros
Best part is celebrating student achievements and scholarships.
Cons
Organization needs to do better breaking down internal silos. Career Tracks are inconsistent and there still seems to be limited opportunity for advancement.
- 4.0Dec 4, 2023Lead EngineerFormer EmployeeReston, VA
Pros
Good technical problems to solve Good people
Cons
nothing to mention that is bad
- 5.0Nov 28, 2023UX Designer IICurrent Employee, more than 1 yearChicago, IL
Pros
good work life balance. fully remote company.
Cons
hard to promote. non competitive salaries.
- 3.0Aug 23, 2023Engineer IICurrent Employee, more than 5 yearsReston, VA
Pros
The benefits package overall is quite good, and I have never had any worries with regards to job security; I personally believe in the mission of the company; I believe that many of the higher-ups (VPs and C-Suite) want to effect positive change.
Cons
Salaries seem to be significantly below market averages, even considering that the company is a non-profit. Middle/upper management seems disorganized from the perspective of a lower level employee. It often took a so much time to get requirements from higher-ups that projects were behind schedule before they even started, and I found myself in a strange position where I wanted to take on more responsibilities and develop my professional skills, but was, for one reason or another, not given the opportunities to do so by my direct supervisors. There was never even a discussion to the effect of "you aren't ready for this, but here's how we can get you there," instead it was always "I'm definitely open to that" or "I'll see what I can do to make that happen" followed by absolutely no changes to provide me with the opportunities I was asking for. Also, operations being dependent on the academic calendar combined with the aforementioned struggles in getting requirements finalized resulted in a lot of required overtime and weekends spent working.
3College Board Response4wThanks for your feedback on working at College Board. We are pleased to hear that you are enjoying the benefits we have to offer and are dedicated to our mission. We’re working to address the concerns you raised about growth and opportunity and encourage you to check out College Board's Learning and Development on myBoard. We strive to continue improving in how we approach having candid conversations with each other and equipping managers with the resources they need to effectively communicate with their colleagues. We know how important clear, direct, and honest feedback is. If you haven't already, we hope that you will elevate your concerns to your talent business partner.
College Board Reviews FAQs
College Board has an overall rating of 3.8 out of 5, based on over 702 reviews left anonymously by employees. 73% of employees would recommend working at College Board to a friend and 68% have a positive outlook for the business. This rating has improved by 4% over the last 12 months.
73% of College Board employees would recommend working there to a friend based on Glassdoor reviews. Employees also rated College Board 4.0 out of 5 for work life balance, 3.7 for culture and values and 3.3 for career opportunities.
According to reviews on Glassdoor, employees commonly mention the pros of working at College Board to be career development, coworkers, benefits and the cons to be diversity and inclusion, management, senior leadership.
