The Advanced Placement test results from the graduating class of 2019 show a growing number of Maryland and Virginia students are taking the exams.
According to the scores released this week, nearly 24% of students in the U.S. attained a score of 3 or above.
In Maryland, 31.5% of students taking AP exams got a 3 or above; in Virginia, the number was 28.8%. In D.C., 19.7 % of students who took the AP exam got a score of 3 or above.
Maryland’s scores put the state at fifth in the nation for the AP exam.
Colleges set their own policies for deciding what score will qualify a student to get college credit; many universities and colleges put the threshold at a score of 3 or above. But there are schools that accept nothing lower than a 5, which is the top score a student can achieve on an AP exam.
When it comes to participation rates, nearly one-third of Maryland students in the graduating class of 2019 took — and passed — an AP class during high school. In Virginia, the numbers were similar.
Maryland is taking part in the Lead Higher Initiative, a program designed to close equity gaps for lower-income students and students of color in AP courses. According to the Maryland State Department of Education, the program was launched in 2017, and 10 Maryland school systems have participated.
James Lane, Virginia’s Superintendent of Public Instruction, issued a statement on the issue.
“I remain concerned about the commonwealth’s ability to expand AP participation for students for whom the examination fees represent a real barrier,” he said.
Under the federal Every Student Succeeds Act of 2015, grants that helped states subsidize the exam fees for AP and International Baccalaureate courses were discontinued. The cost of each AP exam is $93.
