Impact of Advanced Placement Credits on Student Academic Success at a Large, Research I, Land-Grant Institution: Are They Worth It?

• In Event: 46.035 - Persistence, Debt, and Degrees: Barriers and Supports to Degree Attainment

Abstract

The number of students taking advanced placement coursework has steadily grown over the past two decades. While these credits imply a more rigorous high school curriculum, students taking AP credits may be systematically different from students who did not take them. Thus, before making inferences about the effect of AP on college academic performance, one needs to control for such systematic differences. Relying on two quasi-experimental techniques we analyze two longitudinal cohorts of FTE students in a research institution to assess the effect of AP credits on academic performance. Findings show little differences in all the measures, except for the likelihood to be in the honors college. We conclude that AP is more signal than a strategy to succeed academically.

Authors

• Maggie Crowson Parker, University of Georgia - Athens

• Manuel S. Gonzalez Canche, University of Georgia