It is interesting to look at how the US already handles IQ testing on this scale. The United States Military Entrance Processing Command administered the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery to 460,000 people “during fiscal year 2011” at exam sites around the country, plus “658,000 high school students [...] under the Department of Defense Student ASVAB Testing Program during the 2010-11 school year.”
So it’s not hyperbole to say that this is easily a multi-billion dollar a year commitment, just on the basis of the testing alone
I can’t find quotes for how much administering the ASVAB costs nowadays, but a 2002 report from the National Research Council’s Board on Testing and Assessment quotes a cost of “about $20 per administration”. There’s also a 1976 report to Congress by the Comptroller General of the US, which says on p. ii that the DoD “spent about $4.7 million during fiscal year 1974 to support its high school recruiting and testing program, testing about 1.1 million students for enlistment eligibility”, or $4.27ish per testee. The former estimate is $25.96 after inflation, the latter $20.23. Pessimistically rounding up the bigger estimate to $26, and multiplying by 9 million, suggests a total cost of $234 million.
It occurs to me that this cost could be defrayed by charging potential immigrants. The US charges hundreds of dollars in visa fees as things stand, so adding a $25 testing surcharge ought not prove unduly punishing to the huddled masses.
It is interesting to look at how the US already handles IQ testing on this scale. The United States Military Entrance Processing Command administered the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery to 460,000 people “during fiscal year 2011” at exam sites around the country, plus “658,000 high school students [...] under the Department of Defense Student ASVAB Testing Program during the 2010-11 school year.”
I can’t find quotes for how much administering the ASVAB costs nowadays, but a 2002 report from the National Research Council’s Board on Testing and Assessment quotes a cost of “about $20 per administration”. There’s also a 1976 report to Congress by the Comptroller General of the US, which says on p. ii that the DoD “spent about $4.7 million during fiscal year 1974 to support its high school recruiting and testing program, testing about 1.1 million students for enlistment eligibility”, or $4.27ish per testee. The former estimate is $25.96 after inflation, the latter $20.23. Pessimistically rounding up the bigger estimate to $26, and multiplying by 9 million, suggests a total cost of $234 million.
It occurs to me that this cost could be defrayed by charging potential immigrants. The US charges hundreds of dollars in visa fees as things stand, so adding a $25 testing surcharge ought not prove unduly punishing to the huddled masses.