I did a quick search of my e-mails and found this:
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From: Greg Keilin
Date: Saturday, February 28, 2009 2:18 pm
Subject: [intern-network] APPIC and Fees
To: APPIC Intern Network
APPIC INTERN-NETWORK
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Before people go too far with too many assumptions about how APPIC is "profiting" from students, let me provide some specifics about how the various fees get distributed.
MATCH: 95% of applicants pay a fee of $120 to register for the Match (the 5% that pay $150 are from doctoral programs that have chosen not to maintain "Subscriber" status with APPIC). That consists of a $100 Match fee, which goes entirely to National Matching Services. The additional $20 is a "Directory Online" fee, which does in fact go to APPIC and supports that service.
AAPI ONLINE: Like the Match, this type of service is expensive to operate. APPIC has an agreement with a company to administer this new service, and this company runs the Centralized Application Services for a number of professional organizations (e.g., dental students, physician assistants).
Let me begin by telling you how the fees came to be set as they are, since I was prsonally involved in those negotiations. Here are the fee structures for five of their larger customers, including APPIC:
APPIC: $35 for first application, $10 per additional. Cost per app increases after first 15. Total for 15 = $175.
CASPA: Physician Assistants: $170 for first application, variable amount per additional. Total for 15 = $510.
PASS: American Dental Education Association: $175 for first, $45 per additional. Total for 15 = $805.
CSDCAS: Communication Sciences: $100 for first, $45 per additional. Total for 15 = $730.
PTCAS: Physical Therapists: $120 for first, $30 per additional. Total for 15 = $540.
For many organizations, the Centralized Application Service serves as a significant revenue generator for the professional organization.
The APPIC Board specifically decided that was not their goal, and thus negotiated a dramatically lower fee structure. It is my understanding that, for applicants who submit 15 or fewer applications, APPIC will receive exactly $0 of that money, since 100% will go to the company to support the service (I told you it was expensive). For those who submit more than 15, I do believe that APPIC will receive some portion of that money, but I don't recall the exact amount. Thus, overall, the vast majority of the fees are going to the company that is providing the service, similar to the Match, and not to APPIC. Any amount that does go to APPIC will be paid by those individuals who submit a larger-than-average number of applications.
On applicant surveys from previous years, students told us how much they spent in the application phase of the process. In our negotiations, we were clear with the company that we would not enter into an arrangement that would increase students' costs, at least for those who submit a reasonable number of applications. While hoping that I don't contaminate the current survey that is "in progress," the average costs reported last year to submit applications (including printing, mailing, costs of transcripts, etc.) was $218 for an average of 14 applications. Yes, I know that some of you planned ahead and didn't use overnight delivery services and thus spent less, but that's the average. Under the new system, 14 applications will cost $160. And, in addition to that $58/student average savings, we are hoping that we are providing a much more convenient service to students and to programs (e.g., no more fighting with Microsoft Word and formatting nightmares). Not to mention saving probably 2 million pieces of paper that get printed each year.
I hope this clarifies how these fees are used and distributed.
Greg
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