What is “AP*”? The letters “AP” stand for Advanced Placement. A
course that has “AP” in the title is a high school course with…
- The level of difficulty of a first-year college course, with
content that is rigorous and extensive in its subject area -
Content that meets college-level curriculum standards outlined
by the College Board; every AP course goes through an approval
process by the College Board for its AP designation - The
opportunity for students to take a subject exam provided by the
College Board each May; qualifying AP exam scores enable
students to earn credit or advanced placement at many colleges.
How does a course qualify to be called “AP”? Before an AP course
is offered by a school, it must go through—and pass—a course
audit. “The AP Course Audit was created at the request of both
secondary school and college members of the College Board...
[to] provide AP teachers and administrators with clear
guidelines on curricular and resource requirements that must be
in place for AP courses.... [and]