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College Credit on the Table? Advanced Placement Course and Exam Taking

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  • Fazlul, Ishtiaque
  • Jones, Todd
  • Smith, Jonathan

Abstract

Millions of high school students who take an Advanced Placement (AP) course in one of over 30 subjects can earn college credit by performing well on the corresponding AP exam. Using data from four metro-Atlanta public school districts, we find that 15 percent of students’ AP courses do not result in an AP exam. We predict that up to 32 percent of the AP courses that do not result in an AP exam would result in a score of 3 or higher, which generally commands college credit at colleges and universities across the United States. Next, we examine disparities in AP exam-taking rates by demographics and course taking patterns. Most immediately policy relevant, we find evidence consistent with the positive impact of school district exam subsidies on AP exam-taking rates. In fact, students on free and reduced-price lunch (FRL) in the districts that provide a higher subsidy to FRL students than non-FRL students are more likely to take an AP exam than their non-FRL counterparts, after controlling for demographic and academic covariates.

Suggested Citation

  • Fazlul, Ishtiaque & Jones, Todd & Smith, Jonathan, 2021. "College Credit on the Table? Advanced Placement Course and Exam Taking," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 84(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:ecoedu:v:84:y:2021:i:c:s0272775721000741
    DOI: 10.1016/j.econedurev.2021.102155
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Jonathan Smith & Michael Hurwitz & Christopher Avery, 2017. "Giving College Credit Where It Is Due: Advanced Placement Exam Scores and College Outcomes," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 35(1), pages 67-147.
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    6. Jeffrey T. Denning & Eric R. Eide & Kevin Mumford & Richard W. Patterson & Merrill Warnick, 2021. "Why Have College Completion Rates Increased? An Analysis of Rising Grades," NBER Working Papers 28710, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
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    9. Sarena Goodman, 2016. "Learning from the Test: Raising Selective College Enrollment by Providing Information," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 98(4), pages 671-684, October.
    10. Christopher Avery & Oded Gurantz & Michael Hurwitz & Jonathan Smith, 2018. "Shifting College Majors in Response to Advanced Placement Exam Scores," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 53(4), pages 918-956.
    11. Page, Lindsay C. & Scott-Clayton, Judith, 2016. "Improving college access in the United States: Barriers and policy responses," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 4-22.
    12. Klopfenstein, Kristin, 2004. "Advanced Placement: do minorities have equal opportunity?," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 23(2), pages 115-131, April.
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    Cited by:

    1. Bell, D’Wayne & Feng, Jing & Holbein, John B. & Smith, Jonathan, 2022. "Do STEM Students Vote?," IZA Discussion Papers 15483, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Educational Economics; Advanced Placement; High School Coursework;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I22 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Educational Finance; Financial Aid
    • I20 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - General

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