Indiana Students Are Better Prepared for College as the Number of AP Exams Offered, Taken, and Passed Increases Again

INDIANAPOLIS – In partnership with the College Board and the Indiana Commission for Higher Education (ICHE), the Indiana Department of Education (IDOE) announced today another year of increases in the number of Advanced Placement (AP) exams offered, as well as the number of students taking and passing AP exams.

“Preparing students for future workforce success has always been a priority for Indiana’s education K-12 system,” said Dr. Jennifer McCormick, Indiana Superintendent of Public Instruction. “With the increase in the number of school offering AP exams, and the number of students making AP courses their class of choice, Indiana is once again paving a way for students who are better prepared for the rigors of post-secondary experiences. I congratulate and thank the teachers and administrators whose work has made this possible.”

AP is a research-based method to facilitate student participation and success through delivery of college-level courses and corresponding exams in the high school setting, to qualified high school students. Research suggests students who perform well in AP courses are predicted to not only outperform their peers, but have greater college success. For the 2016-2017 school year, Indiana reported the following increases:

• For the 2017 graduating class, 24,671 Indiana public school students took an AP exam, compared to 24,141 in the class of 2016.
• Since 2007, the percentage of graduates taking an AP exam during high school increased from 18.9 percent to 38.9 percent.
• In the past 10 years, the number of Indiana public school students scoring 3 or better on at least one AP exam has increased from 5,786 to 12,546.

“In increasing numbers, Hoosier students are graduating high school with college credit,” said Indiana Commissioner for Higher Education, Teresa Lubbers, “and we know students who take rigorous high school courses are more likely to go to college and graduate.”

For more information regarding IDOE efforts to expand AP in Indiana schools, and AP related data, please visit: http://www.doe.in.gov/ap.