New option to register in the fall will lead to more underrepresented and low-income students taking the AP exams

The College Board will soon allow high school students to register for Advanced Placement (AP) exams in the fall, rather than having them wait until spring—just before the exams are held.
It’s a simple, seemingly inconsequential change, but in both the small- and large-scale studies the nonprofit conducted in U.S. schools, the option to register in the fall led to more underrepresented and low-income students taking the AP exams.

The idea came straight from educators. More than half of U.S. schools that offer AP courses have set test registration dates earlier than the College Board’s deadline, often months earlier, and they’ve observed positive changes in who signs up.

The College Board, a 119-year-old organization that also oversees the SAT, decided to give it a closer look. After a small pilot showed promising results, the group launched a larger, nationally representative pilot of 800 U.S. schools serving 180,000 students this school year to understand the effects of fall registration.

The results have astounded officials at the College Board, which in recent years has led several efforts to improve participation and performance rates among underrepresented students. Overall, student participation in AP exams increased 7.7 percent when the option to register in the fall was available (versus a 1.9 percent bump over the previous year for those who could register only in the spring). But among underserved minority and low-income students, the increase in participation was more dramatic..

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