More Mississippi students are taking Advanced Placement (AP) exams and earning qualifying scores for college credit. Highlights from the 2015-16 school year include:
- 8,207 students took AP exams (23.1 percent increase)
- 12,455 AP exams taken (22.8 percent increase)
- 3,707 students achieved a qualifying score (11.1. percent increase)
The growth in AP is a result of the Mississippi Department of Education’s AP Initiative. The effort includes raising awareness about AP benefits, increasing access to AP opportunities and providing AP-focused professional development for teachers, principals and counselors.
Since the launch of the AP Initiative, the number of AP scholar awards increased 48 percent, jumping from 585 in 2014-15 to 864 in 2015-16. AP scholar awards are given to students who earn qualifying scores on multiple AP exams.
Students from low-income families can get the cost of AP exams subsidized through a grant from the U.S. Department of Education.
Read more about Mississippi students’ AP achievements.