Advanced Placement

Historical Context

The development of the AP Program began in the 1950s, a period in educational history characterized by efforts to improve educational excellence of schools in the United States. The launching of Sputnik I by the Russians led to increased emphasis on the teaching of mathematics and science and the upgrading of every level of education both public and private.

In 1951, faculty from Kenyon College began discussing the idea of allowing advanced-level high school students to receive college credit prior to college enrollment. In the same year, educators from Andover, Exeter, Lawrenceville, Harvard, Princeton, and Yale came together to support the idea of colleges giving college credit to high school students who had taken and passed examinations of content expected of students at the college level.

The Committee on Admission with Advanced Standing, later the Central Committee of the School and College Study, was formed and funded through a grant from the Ford Foundation's Fund for the Advancement of Education; its members were 12 college representatives and 12 secondary school educators. The work of this committee encouraged communication between high school and college faculty and was published in General Education in School and College.

The Education Testing Service (ETS) developed and administered the AP pilot tests during the 1953 to 1954 school year. By May 1956, the College Board had been asked to assume leadership and had given the first AP examinations officially.

The AP Program succeeded in providing rigor and challenge to the high school curriculum. High school students who take AP courses benefit from studying college preparatory coursework and may be better prepared for success in college whether they take the exam or not. College-level course credit received while students are in high school is economical. After taking the courses, students who choose to take the examinations pay less than $100 per course to take the AP examination needed in order for colleges to consider offering students course credit. The overall cost of a college degree can be significantly less when offset by AP exam course credit, and the time spent in college can be less. Finally, some college admissions directors have been known to offer college applicants extra points for having taken AP courses.

When the AP Program was created in the 1950s, African American students were in segregated schools. The decision regarding the desegregation of schools in Brown v. Board of Education, Topeka, Kansas (1954) was handed down on May 17, 1954. Today, the College Board encourages the inclusion of ethnic, racial, and socioeconomic groups that have been underrepresented in the AP Program. The College Board believes that equity is achieved when the demographics of AP participation and performance on the AP exam are identical to the demographics of the school.

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