Editing Advanced Placement (section)

==History==
===20th century===
After the end of [[World War II]], the [[Ford Foundation]] created a fund that supported committees studying education.<ref>{{cite web| title= A Brief History of the Advanced Placement Program| url= http://www.collegeboard.com/prod_downloads/about/news_info/ap/ap_history_english.pdf| access-date= January 29, 2009| publisher= [[College Board]]| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20090205075824/http://www.collegeboard.com/prod_downloads/about/news_info/ap/ap_history_english.pdf| archive-date= February 5, 2009| url-status= dead| df= mdy-all}}</ref> The program, which was then referred to as the "Kenyon Plan",<ref>{{cite web|title=Historical Markers: Kenyon College |url=https://lbis.kenyon.edu/sca/markers/college |access-date=May 29, 2011 |publisher=[[Kenyon College]] |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110719231345/https://lbis.kenyon.edu/sca/markers/college |archive-date=July 19, 2011 }}</ref> was founded and pioneered at [[Kenyon College]] in Gambier, Ohio, by the then-college president [[Gordon Chalmers]]. The first study was conducted by four prep schools—the [[Lawrenceville School]], [[Phillips Academy]], [[Phillips Exeter Academy]], and [[St. Paul's School (Concord, New Hampshire)|St. Paul's School]] —and three universities—[[Harvard University]], [[Princeton University]] and [[Yale University]]. In 1952 they issued the report ''General Education in School and College: A Committee Report'' which recommended allowing high school seniors to study college-level material and to take achievement exams that allowed them to attain college credit for this work.<ref>{{cite journal
 |title=The Liberal Arts in School and College
 |journal=The Chronicle of Higher Education
 |author=Stanley N. Katz
 |url=http://chronicle.com/article/The-Liberal-Arts-in-School-and/10344
 |date=March 10, 2006
 |access-date=January 21, 2011
 |archive-date=June 11, 2011
 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110611225436/http://chronicle.com/article/The-Liberal-Arts-in-School-and/10344
 |url-status=live
 }}</ref> The second committee, the Committee on Admission with Advanced Standing, developed and implemented the plan to choose a curriculum. A pilot program was run in 1952 which covered eleven disciplines. In the 1955–56 school year, it was nationally implemented in ten subjects: Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry, Biology, English, History, French, German, Spanish, and Latin.

The [[College Board]], a not-for-profit organization<ref>[http://www.collegeboard.com/about/index.html About the College Board] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101203085840/http://www.collegeboard.com/about/index.html |date=December 3, 2010 }} from collegeboard.com</ref> based in New York City, has run the AP program since 1955.<ref>[http://apcentral.collegeboard.com/apc/public/program/history/8019.html The History of the AP Program] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070503202659/http://apcentral.collegeboard.com/apc/public/program/history/8019.html |date=May 3, 2007 }} from collegeboard.com</ref>

From 1965 to 1989, [[Harlan Hanson]] was the director of the Advanced Placement Program.<ref>{{cite web |last=DiYanni |first=Robert |title=The History of AP Program |url=http://apcentral.collegeboard.com/apc/public/courses/21502.html |year=2008 |publisher=CollegeBoard.com |access-date=July 23, 2009 |archive-date=July 5, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080705050030/http://apcentral.collegeboard.com/apc/public/courses/21502.html |url-status=live }}</ref> It develops and maintains guidelines for the teaching of higher-level courses in various subject areas. In addition, it supports teachers of AP courses and supports universities.<ref>[http://apcentral.collegeboard.com/apc/public/program/index.html The Advanced Placement Program] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080512151808/http://apcentral.collegeboard.com/apc/public/program/index.html |date=May 12, 2008 }} from collegeboard.com</ref> These activities are funded through fees required to take the AP exams.

===21st century===
In 2006, over one million students took over two million Advanced Placement examinations.<ref>[http://apcentral.collegeboard.com/apc/public/repository/ap06_prog_summary_rpt.pdf Program Summary Report 2006] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071025135600/http://apcentral.collegeboard.com/apc/public/repository/ap06_prog_summary_rpt.pdf |date=October 25, 2007 }} from collegeboard.com</ref> Many high schools in the United States offer AP courses,<ref>[http://apcentral.collegeboard.com/apc/public/repository/ap05_apfactsheet_37491.pdf AP Fact Sheet] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110708175722/http://apcentral.collegeboard.com/apc/public/repository/ap05_apfactsheet_37491.pdf |date=July 8, 2011 }} from collegeboard.com</ref> though the College Board allows any student to take any examination regardless of participation in its respective course.<ref>[http://www.collegeboard.com/student/testing/ap/about_faq.html#faq1 AP: Frequently Asked Questions] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070621225903/http://www.collegeboard.com/student/testing/ap/about_faq.html#faq1 |date=June 21, 2007 }} from collegeboard.com</ref> Therefore, [[homeschooling|home-schooled]] students and students from schools that do not offer AP courses have an equal opportunity to take AP exams.

In 2007, hedge fund manager and philanthropist [[Whitney Tilson]] helped create a $1 million program (called Reach, for Rewarding Achievement) funded by philanthropists to pay students in 25 public schools and six Roman Catholic private schools in New York City who do well on Advanced Placement exams.<ref name=cash/><ref>Elissa Gootman (August 19, 2008). [https://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/20/education/20cash.html?searchResultPosition=8 "Mixed Results on Paying City Students to Pass Tests"], ''The New York Times''.</ref> High school students receiving a top score of five on one of the exams earned $1,000 (a four was worth $750, and a three was worth $500).<ref name=cash/> The schools chosen for the program all had a high proportion of low-income black or Latino students.<ref name=cash/> Tilson approached the [[Pershing Square Foundation]] to finance the project, and it agreed to give the project $1 million for its first year.<ref name=cash>Jennifer Medina (October 15, 2007). [https://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/15/nyregion/15rewards.html?searchResultPosition=2 "Making Cash a Prize for High Scores on Advanced Placement Tests"], ''The New York Times''.</ref>

As of the 2024 testing season, exams cost $98 each,<ref name="fees">{{Cite web |title=AP Exam Fees – AP Central {{!}} College Board |url=https://apcentral.collegeboard.org/exam-administration-ordering-scores/ordering-fees/exam-fees |access-date=2023-11-07 |website=apcentral.collegeboard.org |language=en}}</ref> though the cost may be subsidized by local or state programs. Financial aid is available for students who qualify for it; the exam reduction is $36 per exam from College Board plus an additional $9 rebate per fee-reduced exam from the school. There may be further reductions depending on the state.

On April 3, 2008, the College Board announced that four AP courses—French Literature, Latin Literature, Computer Science AB, and Italian Language and Culture—would be discontinued after the 2008–2009 school year due to lack of funding.<ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/story/2008/04/03/ST2008040303977.html | title=AP Language, Computer Courses Cut | newspaper=The Washington Post | date=April 4, 2008 | access-date=January 21, 2011 | first=Daniel | last=de Vise | archive-date=November 12, 2012 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121112061039/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/story/2008/04/03/ST2008040303977.html | url-status=live }}</ref><ref>[http://apcentral.collegeboard.com/apc/public/courses/teachers_corner/195950.html Important Announcement about AP Italian Language and Culture] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080704221615/http://apcentral.collegeboard.com/apc/public/courses/teachers_corner/195950.html |date=July 4, 2008 }} from collegeboard.com</ref> However, the Italian Language and Culture test was again offered beginning in 2011.

Starting July 2013 AP allowed students for the first time to both view and send their scores online.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://apstudent.collegeboard.org/apscores |title=AP Online Scores |access-date=May 7, 2013 |archive-date=June 22, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130622013458/https://apstudent.collegeboard.org/apscores |url-status=live }}</ref>

The number of AP exams administered each year has seen a steady increase over the past decade. In 2003, 175,860 English Language and Composition exams were administered. By 2013, this number had risen to 476,277, or an increase of 171%. Such an increase has occurred in nearly all AP exams offered, with the AP Psychology exam seeing a 281% increase over the past decade. In 2022, the most taken AP exam was [[AP English Language and Composition|English Language and Composition]] with 520,771 students and the least taken AP exam was [[AP Italian Language and Culture|Italian Language and Culture]] with 2,194 students.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://secure-media.collegeboard.org/digitalServices/pdf/research/2017/Student-Score-Distributions-2017.pdf |title=Archived copy |access-date=February 21, 2018 |archive-date=December 31, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171231103452/https://secure-media.collegeboard.org/digitalServices/pdf/research/2017/Student-Score-Distributions-2017.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref>

In the 2022–2023 school year, [[College Board]] launched a pilot [[AP African American Studies]] course. The course is currently acknowledged credit at about 75 colleges and universities.<ref>{{Cite magazine |date=2022-08-22 |title=African-American History Finally Gets Its Own AP Class |url=https://time.com/6207652/ap-african-american-history-class/ |access-date=2023-08-11 |magazine=Time |language=en}}</ref>

AP exams begin on the second Monday in May and last ten school days.