Behind the Grade: The Hidden Cost of AP Courses
Pic creds:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Advanced_Placement
The AP logo
By: Emma Travers
Taking an Advanced Placement (AP) course feels like a badge of honor for high school students. Being enrolled in this course guarantees college credit for most schools (if you pass the exam) and a boost in your GPA, but behind this is also a significant cost. Does the financial part of AP courses hinder students' desire and/or ability to take them?
AP courses give high school students the ability to tackle a higher workload while getting credit for both high school and college. This is the statement that gets many students to sign up for an AP class. They are captivated by the idea of college credit and getting to do less classes in college. If that doesn’t get them, the idea of boosting their GPA sure does. Multiple students aim for the perfect GPA of a 4.0 or even getting higher than that. Yet many overlook the cost behind these classes.
As a student who takes an AP class I wanted to know other students' views on the costs of the AP classes they take. I am only taking one so the cost didn’t make a huge impact for me, but what about the students who are taking multiple APs?
The class itself has no cost but it’s the test in May that has a fee. You will still get the GPA boost if you take the course, but if you don’t take the test, you won’t get the college credit. This makes the test feel somewhat “obligatory” even though it really isn’t.
According to the college board website, the cost per exam is $99, (for AP exams taken within the US). While the AP Seminar and AP Research exams taken anywhere cost $147. If you don’t pay that set price within the deadline, you have to pay a $40 late fee.
You may think, “$100 for a class that will take care of a college credit is nothing. That is so much cheaper than taking the college course itself!” But don’t forget, you have to pass the test to get the college credit. So you could potentially be paying a useless $100.
But what do Jenks students think about this?
A Google form was run to ask Jenks high school students what they thought about AP courses and the fees that come along with it. 92.3% of the people who took the form have taken an AP class sometime in their Jenks career. They were asked how many AP classes they have taken in the entirety of their four years at Jenks and 33.3% have taken two while at Jenks.
From these select students who took the form, a shocking 84.6% said the biggest reason they took the class was for college credit (with the hopes that they passed the AP exam).
This leads to one of the charts that stood out to the most. This chart lets you see if students think that AP fees should be paid for by the district.
A graphic over the question "Should AP class costs be covered by the district?"
Over half of these individuals voted yes, but one who voted no said something interesting.
“I don’t think that Jenks should have to pay for something that is something that will only benefit us for our college life,” said an anonymous source who believes that Jenks and other high schools should not be in charge of the costs of AP courses.
There are some ways you can receive financial aid. The College Board website qualifies it as “significant financial need.” And if you qualify for that you may be eligible for a $37 fee reduction. You are also able to contact AP coordinators if you believe you will need more aid.
On the College Board website you can find a graphic showing you what states allow what type of financial aid, if any. From this you can see that Oklahoma provides partial funding for AP exam fees for low-income students.
A graphic of the states that give low income students aid. Credits: https://reports.collegeboard.org/ap-program-results/state-funding
Lots of students in high school get the benefit of having their parents/caregivers paying for school fees. But for some, if they want to join a club, extracurricular, or in this case AP class, the cost is on themselves.
A graphic showing how high school students get their AP class paid for.
Of those who took the form, 7.7% have to pay for the class out of their own pocket.
Depending on what high school you attend or what high school you are taking the class at, you may have to pay an extra fee. These fees cover proctoring and administration costs.
The last question on the form asked students for suggestions on how AP exams could become more accessible to all students. These were a couple of the responses received.
“Adding more aid for those who may need it,” said Student A.
There were a few other responses received that also had to do with adding a higher amount of aid for students.
“Create scholarships (similar to college ones) that students can apply for,” said Student B.
These are just a couple of the many great ideas that were sent back on the form. With AP classes growing in popularity, it is important that there isn’t a financial barrier preventing students from reaching their goals that can be completed by taking an AP.
If you want to discover more about AP exams and the fees that go with it you can visit the college board website.
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