I noticed a moment ago that the Educational Testing Service (ETS) is now a reseller of Study.com’s TOEFL prep course. Test takers can now purchase the course for $199 (3-months access) or $349 (6-months access) right from the ETS website. Payment is made to ETS who, I presume, remits a few bucks back to Study.com. This is a separate product from the Official TOEFL Prep Course ($149.99) developed by ETS in house. And it should not be confused with the “smart” ($307) and “genius” ($519) bundles of test prep that test takers are prompted to purchase after selecting a test date. And, needless to say, it isn’t the same as the $1500 official TOEFL AI course sold exclusively in China. Or the $39 AI app sold to the rest of the world.
This is quite a menu. And I haven’t even mentioned half of it here.
One senses that my friends at ETS still aren’t fully aware of why the Duolingo English Test is eating their lunch. Which is perplexing because the TOEFL product line is being turned on its head in what appears to be a direct response to said lunch consumption.
I think most people realize now that Duolingo’s success is partially attributable to their decision to forgo the sale of test prep products. At no point in the process of booking the DET does one of their weird cartoon characters hawk a costly course or graded practice test. At no point is it suggested to test takers that paid prep will even make a difference. What materials Duolingo have created are given away for free. People like that. They like that a lot. It creates a much more pleasurable and respectful experience than one where a test maker is ceaselessly pitching paid products which are purported to increase scores. This, as much as its famously low cost and controversial “perceived easiness,” is what has made the DET such a success in recent years.
I get that sales of prep products will increase the TOEFL program’s bottom line. But only in the short term. If ETS wants to turn this ship around for the long haul this isn’t the way to go. They should be scaling this stuff back instead of ramping it up. Most of this stuff should be free. That much ought to be obvious to everyone.
Incidentally, FairTest’s Akil Bello touched on a similar case a few weeks ago, suggesting that ACT’s move to resell ACT prep courses conflict of interest concerns.