Easier AP Exams Offer College Students a Path to $30,000 Savings
Industrious pupils can knock tens of thousands off their future tuition bills at a time when the cost of college is under intense scrutiny.
In 2023, nearly three million students took a little over five million AP exams.
Photographer: PhotoAlto/Odilon Dimier
At worst, you’re out $500. At best, you get into your dream school and knock $10,000 off the bill.
That’s the wager presented to students taking the Advanced Placement exams, a series of tests for college-bound kids that count toward course credits at many US universities. The exams — long known for their rigor — have become markedly easier to pass, making it more feasible for pupils to cut their future tuition bills by thousands of dollars at a time when the cost of college is under intense scrutiny.