“They were passing out papers for the AP test, and I hadn’t had that class for a month. How am I going to know if I can take the test or not?”
Many high school students across Kentucky are familiar with Advanced Placement (AP) courses. These classes can transfer credits to colleges depending on how students do on the final test, the AP exam, and could potentially lessen the amount of money students will have to pay in college to take these courses. Initially, these tests were paid for in spring, only a month or so before the actual test was taken. However, the College Board, the organization in charge of AP courses and their tests, recently decided to move the registration deadline to October 31. After that, $40 late fees are issued if students register after the window closes.
Why would the College Board move up test fees? Well, the College Board conducted a pilot program with 180,000 or 40,000 students, depending on the source, which showed that the new deadline increased the likelihood of student participation, specifically from low-income families, without lowering the cost of the test itself. After seeing these results, the College Board decided to implement the new deadline permanently for all schools.
At first, this seems like a reasonable solution. Considering that AP test fees can exceed $94, it’s important for low-income families to be able to take the test with less financial strain by changing the time of payment. However, the solution the College Board has come to has some flaws.
For one, extracurricular activities usually require students to pay some form of fee in October. Clubs and conferences such as KYA ask for fees around the same time as the new AP fee deadline. This causes an issue, especially for low income students, about whether or not they can afford to pay over $100 for after-school clubs and the AP tests. Students in their sophomore and junior year are more likely to take more than one AP course, which means that those who decide to test are going to pay over $200 dollars, clubs not included. Students should be encouraged to join clubs and take AP tests, but the large cost in a short period of time may scare students away.
Another problem with the new deadline is that it is a long time away from when the students test. In the first semester, students can’t properly evaluate whether or not they will do well on an AP test, and, therefore, if they should take the test or not. Requiring students to pay for these tests early on leaves them in a difficult situation where they are unable to make an educated decision. Adam Lindley, a counselor at a high school in Illinois, spoke about this issue in an interview with the Washington Post, adding that seniors may not know if their colleges will accept the AP credit, leaving them unsure if they should take the test.
In the first semester, students can’t properly evaluate whether or not they will do well on an AP test, and, therefore, if they should take the test or not.
Additionally, low income students may be on savings plans in order to cover the high cost of the AP exams. When the deadline moved, the budget plans conflicted with the earlier date. Considering that the AP test is unnecessarily costly, especially for students taking multiple tests, this could lower the participation of low income students: the complete opposite of what College Board’s pilot program showed. While fee waivers/reductions (which vary by school) can help, the AP exam still costs more money than it’s worth for some families.
While discussing the AP test with fellow Kentucky students, I noticed some patterns. Many students seemed to have extracurricular fees, along with payments for some class trips, due around the same time as the AP exam fee. My peers seemed uncertain of the reasoning behind the costly payments, along with the variation in costs for certain classes, such as AP Seminar.
Philip Maxon, a sophomore at Henry Clay, expressed that the new deadline “locked him in” to taking the AP test before he was ready. He explained that the cost of the test didn’t affect whether or not he took them, but the payment caused unnecessary stress. “I take the tests just to say that I’ve done them,” he stated, “but I’m not happy about having to spend so much money.” He also mentioned that his deposit for an art history class trip was due this month, which cost around $200 dollars. While he still paid for both the tests and the trip, he believed it was inconvenient timing.
Another sophomore at Henry Clay, Emma Snyder, had a different take. For her, the new deadline didn’t affect how she paid for the tests — the problem was the cost itself. The payments for her tests, which totaled approximately $200 dollars, caused stress for her and an annoyance for her family. When asked about extracurriculars, she said, “I guess it stops me from doing activities like that. KYA, for example, can be a lot of money and it’s a choice between AP classes or extracurriculars for me. Of course there’s no point in taking an AP class if you aren’t going to take the test at the end, so it’s not really an option.” She added, “It’s not so much the deadline but the fee itself.”
“KYA, for example, can be a lot of money… it’s a choice between AP classes or extracurriculars.”
Morgan Dawson, a sophomore at Tates Creek, said that the earlier deadline left her unsure if she could take the tests or not. “I’m in AP Physics right now, and they were passing out papers for the AP test, and I hadn’t had that class for a month. I don’t even know if I can do advanced physics; how am I going to know if I can take the test or not?” Like the other students I interviewed, Dawson said that the test fees were being paid for at the same time as her volleyball club monthly fees, both exceeding $100.
“The cost kinda seems like a bit of a gamble,” Dawson noted. “Sure, it’s a lot less than a college course, but you aren’t guaranteed to pass that AP test. So if you pay for the test, and then you don’t get the credit for it, it’s still more money down the drain. You still have to pay for that college course in the future. But also, there’s a chance you can dock thousands of dollars off your college loans and student debt. There’s a lot of risks.”
A trend appears out of these student testimonies: The cost of AP tests are far too high, and the new early deadline makes paying for extracurriculars more difficult. Paying for the AP tests becomes risky, and students are forced to make a choice between taking an AP test and possibly failing or not taking the test at all and receiving no credits.
AP tests play an important part in a student’s readiness for college, and can help make higher education more affordable. The high costs of these exams are drawing students away from extracurriculars and causing pressure. The new deadline has only worsened the problem: low income families are being forced to make important financial decisions with little to no information or budget planning, and can suffer a high fine for indecision. Listening to voices of students in Kentucky, the deadline should be restored at its original date, and the cost for the AP exam should be lowered in order for all students to have the opportunity to take the exam.
These tests are more than just a grade. The AP exam shows the horizons of students’ futures, and it’s vital that their confidence in their education and financial well being is preserved.
