The Iowa AP Index

The Top 50 AP Schools In Iowa

The AP Program

The College Board’s Advanced Placement Program allows students to pursue college-level studies and take college-level exams while in high school. In May 2024, more than 2.6 million students took approximately 5.7 million AP Exams in 40 subjects. AP exams provide a uniform standard of academic accomplishment across geography, economic status, ethnicity, and school size. Students can earn college credit or advanced placement in college courses with a qualifying AP Exam score at thousands of colleges and universities. An AP Exam score of 5 is considered top-level work in a corresponding college course; many colleges and universities recognize an exam score of 3 with college credit or advanced placement in college courses.

AP courses and exams are a rigorous and meaningful indicator of academic preparation for college (Geiser & Santelices, 2004). Keng and Dodd (2008) report that "AP Credit students consistently outperformed non-AP students of similar academic ability in all college outcome measures" (p. 1). Warne (2017) reports that students who took AP classes received higher college entrance exam scores and college GPAs than students who did not take AP classes.

AP courses and exams also help students:

  • Stand out in the college admissions process.
  • Earn academic scholarships and awards from colleges and universities.
  • Experience college-level academics now, while they're still in high school.
  • Save time and money once they get to college, providing them with more study options and allowing them to move directly into upper-level courses in their field of interest.

To continue reading about the AP Program, visit the College Board's website.

References

AP Data and Research

Geiser, S., & Santelices, V. (2004). The role of Advanced Placement and honors courses in college admissions (Paper CSHE-4-04). Berkeley, CA: UC Berkeley, Center for Studies in Higher Education.

Keng, L., & Dodd, B. G. (2008). A comparison of college performances of AP and Non-AP student groups in 10 subject areas (College Board Research Report No. 2008-7). New York, NY: The College Board.

Warne, R. T. (2017). Research on the academic benefits of the Advanced Placement program: Taking stock and looking forward. SAGE Open. 1-16. DOI: 10.1177/2158244016682996