The College Board’s Advanced Placement program, which offers students a chance at earning college credit while still in high school, continues to grow in participation—and performance—across the country.
In a new data released Feb. 25, the nonprofit organization found that over the last decade, the number of public high school graduates who took an AP exam grew from 32.8 percent of the class of 2014 to 35.7 percent of the class of 2024.
Within that same timeframe, the number of traditionally underrepresented students—including Black/African American, Hispanic/Latino, and American Indian/Alaska Native students—who took at least one AP exam by graduation grew from 154,000 in 2014 to more than 460,000 in 2024.
“This data shows that students, their teachers, school leaders, and policymakers not only see the value and benefits of AP but also recognize that almost all students can be AP students,” said Trevor Packer, head of the AP program.
Another key area of growth: the number of students who got a score of 3 or above in at least one AP exam, thus making them eligible for college credit. About 19.9 percent of graduates in 2014 met that goal. That number grew to 22.6 percent in 2024.
Last year, the College Board shared an updated approach to grading AP exams that in part explains the recent uptick in scores of 3 or above.
One data point that didn’t change: the most requested AP exams.
According to College Board’s exam data—requested by Education Week—students still favored AP courses in the humanities between November 2023 and 2024. Students must register for fall-semester and yearlong course exams by November, with exams taken in May.
Here are the top 10 requested AP exams, as of this past November:
10. AP Statistics
264,262 exam registrations. This course covers “major concepts and tools used for collecting, analyzing, and drawing conclusions from data,” according to the College Board.
9. AP Human Geography
273,922 exam registrations. This course covers “systematic study of patterns and processes that have shaped human understanding, use, and alteration of Earth’s surface.”
8. AP Biology
287,030 exam registrations. In this course, students “cultivate their understanding of biology through inquiry-based investigations as they explore the following topics: evolution, cellular processes, energy and communication, genetics, information transfer, ecology, and interactions.”
7. AP Calculus AB
290,459 exam registrations. This course explores the “understanding of calculus concepts” and provides “experience with methods and applications.”
6. AP Psychology
333,649 exam registrations. This course explores the “systematic and scientific study of human behavior and mental processes.”
5. AP United States Government and Politics
342,972 exam registrations. This course covers the “key political concepts, ideas, institutions, policies, interactions, roles, and behaviors that characterize the constitutional system and political culture of the United States.”
Teachers of this course spoke with Education Week last year about their experience covering the 2024 presidential election, with one teacher even inviting his students to a pizza watch party of the live results.
4. AP World History: Modern
406,221 exam registrations. In this course students “investigate significant events, individuals, developments, and processes from 1200 to the present.”
3. AP English Literature and Composition
415,245 exam registrations. This course covers “reading, analyzing, and writing about imaginative literature (fiction, poetry, drama) from various periods.”
2. AP United States History
510,910 exam registrations. This course covers the “cultural, economic, political, and social developments that have shaped the United States from c. 1491 to the present.”
1. AP English Language and Composition
599,764 exam registrations. This course covers “development and revision of evidence-based analytic and argumentative writing, the rhetorical analysis of nonfiction texts, and the decisions writers make as they compose and revise.”
For a look at how many students requested all other AP course exams, see here:
