AP Program Facts

Overview of the AP Program

Since 1955, the AP® Program has enabled millions of students to take college-level courses and exams, and to earn college credit or placement while still in high school.

• Thirty-seven AP courses and exams are offered in 22 subject areas.
• More than 16,400 schools worldwide participate in the AP Program, including 66 percent of U.S. high schools.
• Nearly one in four U.S. public school students in the class of 2007 took an AP Exam at some point in high school. In 2007, more than 1.4 million students worldwide took more than 2.5 million AP Exams.
• More than 90 percent of the nation's four-year colleges and universities, and institutions in more than 40 countries, have an AP policy granting incoming students credit, placement or both for qualifying AP Exam grades. In 2007, more than 3,000 colleges and universities accepted qualifying AP Exam grades for credit and/or placement.
• AP Exams, with the exception of AP Studio Art, each consist of dozens of multiple-choice questions that are scored by machine, as well as free-response questions (essays, translations, problems, oral responses) that are scored at the annual AP Reading by approximately 10,000 college faculty and AP teachers, who use scoring standards and rubrics developed by college and university faculty who teach the corresponding college courses.
• The composite score for each AP Exam is converted to an AP Exam grade of 5, 4, 3, 2 or 1. AP Exam grades of 5 are equivalent to A grades in the corresponding college course. AP Exam grades of 4 are equivalent to grades of A-, B+ and B in college. AP Exam grades of 3 are equivalent to grades of B-, C+ and C in college.

AP and college success

Research confirms that AP Exam grades are valid predictors of college success.

• Two studies¹ from University of Texas researchers confirmed the use of AP Exam results to identify students for college admission and to provide students with college credit and advanced standing. These studies found that students who placed out of introductory college courses as a result of successful AP Exam grades earned higher college GPAs and took more credit hours in the subject area of their exam than non-AP students. Additionally, AP students statewide in Texas earned higher college GPAs and had higher four-year graduation rates when compared to students with similar SAT® scores and socioeconomic backgrounds who did not take AP courses and exams.
• Research² conducted by the University of California: Berkeley—which looked at a pool of "similar" students created by removing differences of GPA, school quality, parental education level, and family income—"emphatically supports" many earlier studies' findings that an AP Exam grade of 3 or higher is "a remarkably strong predictor of performance in college." This study concludes: "The subject-specific, curriculum-intensive AP Exams are the epitome of 'achievement tests,' and their validity in predicting college performance should not be surprising."
• A 2006 study³ by the National Center for Educational Accountability found that among academically and demographically comparable students, students scoring 3 or better on one or more AP Exams in the areas of English, mathematics, science or social studies were significantly more likely to graduate from college in five years or less compared to non-AP students.

The essential role of colleges and universities

Colleges and universities play an essential role in ensuring the quality of all aspects of the AP Program. The initiative, participation and guidance of colleges and universities are essential to the AP course and exam development process, which ensures that well-prepared students are awarded credit and/or advanced placement, and facilitates the use of AP in admissions decisions.

• A diverse committee of college faculty and experienced AP teachers develops each course and exam. AP Development Committee members represent a wide range of institutions, including Duke University, Harvard University, Michigan State University, Middlebury College, Princeton University, Stanford University, Tufts University, the University of California: Berkeley, the University of Maryland, the University of North Carolina, the University of Virginia, Washington University and Yale University.
• AP Exam questions are developed by college faculty who teach the college courses upon which AP courses are modeled. To ensure the rigor and quality of AP standards, AP Exams are preadministered to college students, ensuring that AP's standards meet or exceed the standards at colleges and universities nationwide. Results of college students' performance show that AP courses remain comparable to college courses at these institutions in rigor, quality and student learning.
• Through the AP Course Audit, which was introduced for the first time in 2007, approximately 130,000 AP teachers' courses at more than 14,000 high schools underwent a rigorous review conducted by more than 800 select college and university faculty. As a result of the AP Course Audit, college admissions officials, students, parents and educators can have continued confidence that the AP designation on students' transcripts is only allowed for syllabi that have been approved by college faculty.