AP Exam Fees – AP Central (2024)

FAQs

AP Exam Fees – AP Central? ›

2024 AP Fee Assistance Policies by State

The College Board offers an exam fee waiver of $36 per test for students who meet stated criteria.

Why do AP exams cost so much? The biggest reason is that there are many different factors that go into making and distributing an AP test. Each academic year, the exam price increases, and the exam fee cost is based on the time spent researching each course's specific skills, printing the exams, and grading each exam.

It pays each student who scores a 3 or above (high enough to earn college credit) on the math or science A.P. exam $100. Teachers' incentives are not as straightforward and are based on the percentage of their students that pass the exam.

By and large, AP classes are worth it. While they take additional energy (and potentially a small financial investment for exam fees), your student could earn college credit while they are in high school. If your student gets the right scores, the test fee could save them hundreds or thousands of dollars.

The main qualification that CollegeBoard uses to determine your financial status is whether or not you're in the US free school lunch programs (usually – but not limited to – the National School Lunch Program, or NSLP). All NSLP recipients receive the fee waiver for every AP test.

In case of such an emergency, please contact your AP^® Coordinator at your school IMMEDIATELY. A doctor's note will be required. IMMEDIATE contact – if ill on the day of the scheduled exam – is crucial due to the deadlines involved in ordering make up materials.

It's great that you're exploring all financial avenues for your education. Regarding your query about the tax deductibility of AP exam fees, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) typically does not consider these exam fees as a deductible educational expense.

What happens if you pay for an AP test but don't take it? ›

If you don't take an exam, you usually won't face any consequences. Some AP teachers offer extra credit to incentivize students to take the exam, so you may miss out on that. Make sure to check with your AP teacher as some schools might have a rule about taking the exam if you took the class.

Regarding penalties, there are typically no academic penalties from your high school for choosing not to sit for the exam. However, no scores will be reported, since the exam wasn't taken, so you obviously won't have that exam score to submit to colleges.

Final thoughts

But it's not the end of the world if you don't pass. Your class grade won't be affected, and colleges will still be impressed that you took an AP course. Colleges won't see your scores, if you don't report them. So, even if you are unsure if you'll pass, it's a good idea to opt to take an AP course.

Taking and doing well on more than 5 AP course exams doesn't significantly improve a student's chances of getting good first-year college grades and four-year degree completion, the nonprofit found. In fact, just doing well on their first or second exam indicates future college success.

The top 6 subjects with the highest pass rates:

AP Chinese – 88.40% AP Seminar – 85% AP Art & Design: Drawing – 84.70% AP Research – 84.40%

Key Takeaway: AP students who earn a score of 1 or 2, or average a score of 1 or 2 across their AP Exams in high school, have better college outcomes than academically similar college students who did not take an AP course and exam.

Usually, a 70 to 75 percent out of 100 translates to a 5. However, there are some exams that are exceptions to this rule of thumb. The AP Grades that are reported to students, high schools, colleges, and universities in July are on AP's five-point scale: 5: Extremely well qualified.

In other words, the grade you earn in the year-long AP class is more important than are your AP score for admissions purposes. Retaking AP tests is expensive; it will cost you an extra $94! It's also a pretty big time commitment to take on additional studying on top of a full course load.