In an April 18, 2019 news release, PDE announced a new initiative, resulting from a partnership forged with the College Board, which would allow economically disadvantaged high school students to possibly earn college credit through taking Advanced Placement (AP) exams at a reduced cost of $20 per exam, rather than the normal cost of $85 per test.

Beginning with the 2019 exams, the Commonwealth will pay $33 toward the $85 cost for each exam for economically disadvantaged students, which along with the College Board’s $32 fee reduction, will allow students who qualify to pay only $20 per test. Students are considered low-income if they qualify for free or reduced lunch.

The College Board will bill PDE for each qualifying student who takes an AP test at the end of an AP course.

Economically disadvantaged students may also potentially benefit from taking AP courses and scoring well on the end-of-course test, since some colleges use AP scores to exempt students from intro courses, which could result in saving money and reducing the time it would take to earn a degree.

In an April 18, 2019 news release, PDE announced a new initiative, resulting from a partnership forged with the College Board, which would allow economically disadvantaged high school students to possibly earn college credit through taking Advanced Placement (AP) exams at a reduced cost of $20 per exam, rather than the normal cost of $85 per test.

Beginning with the 2019 exams, the Commonwealth will pay $33 toward the $85 cost for each exam for economically disadvantaged students, which along with the College Board’s $32 fee reduction, will allow students who qualify to pay only $20 per test. Students are considered low-income if they qualify for free or reduced lunch.

The College Board will bill PDE for each qualifying student who takes an AP test at the end of an AP course.

Economically disadvantaged students may also potentially benefit from taking AP courses and scoring well on the end-of-course test, since some colleges use AP scores to exempt students from intro courses, which could result in saving money and reducing the time it would take to earn a degree.