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March 20, 2012 9:55 AM
Federal Budget Cuts Prevent Poor from Taking AP Tests
Budget cuts will thwart many low-income students’ efforts to access Advanced Placement examinations, unless they can come up with the money on their own.
According to an article by Tamar Lewin in the New York Times:
As part of the federal budget agreement last December, Congress cut federal financing for programs that offer advanced high school courses to slightly under $27 million, from $43 million the previous year, with only about $20 million to be used to subsidize low-income students’ exam fees. So, in recent weeks, state education officials have been notifying high schools that low-income students, who have for decades been eligible for fee waivers, will have to pay $15 for each of the first three exams they take, and $53 per exam for any beyond that.
A.P. exams, given in May, cost $87 apiece, and many schools are now in the process of collecting registrations and fees.
The College Board, which administers the examinations, estimates that 29,000 fewer students than expected will take the exam because they’ll be unable to pay the fee College Board charges.
This cut, which could have the effect of preventing tens of thousands of children from taking examinations they often use to be admitted to (and receive scholarships for) college, would save less than $17 million. That represents less than 0.001 percent of the federal budget. [Image via]
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concerney cynic on March 21, 2012 3:35 AM:
College admission and scholarships never require the scores on any AP exam.
ARealNewYorker on March 22, 2012 11:24 AM:
@Concerney Cynic:
You're either stating a falsehood or being disingenuously litigious. I was a college admissions counselor for several years. Most colleges do not "require" the scores on the AP exam because they do not require the AP exam for simple admission. However, the AP exam is used for "Advanced Placement" - meaning you will receive credits for having taken it and achieved a score that is successful by whatever measure the college is using (usually a 4 out of 5). They do not give you credit simply for having taken the exam, and even if they did, you couldn't prove you had taken it without submitting the scores. A student without financial means will naturally want to reduce admissions costs (which happens if you place out of a class at any school that allows pay-per-credit instead of a flat tuition), or they'll want the opportunity to take a higher level course (which happens when they place out of a lower-level one). The admissions team at the college WILL see these scores. And since the decision making process is partly subjective (in situations where two students meet the minimal requirements but there's only room for one), and the merit scholarship process is definitely subjective, the team won't but help being influenced by knowledge of the scores.