Colleges rethink giving credit for Advanced Placement test scores

AP tests

AP tests

Madison Rexroat

With the increasing number of high school students taking Advanced Placement (AP) exams – up nearly 5 percent from last year – colleges are reconsidering how they reward test scores.

At least 20 states require public universities to give credit for particular AP scores, but some schools, particularly elite universities, have changed their policy on the process. Dartmouth stopped giving AP credit toward graduation in 2014, but they still allow students to move to more advanced courses. Others offer little more than admission, if that.

Many students use AP credits to bypass general classes and earn another degree, so the new policies don’t particularly threaten their ability to complete a college degree. Other students, on the other hand, use credits to graduate early and save money for the future, an argument for low-income students that the College Board supports.

Read the full article in The Wall Street Journal here.