AP National and State Data

Fair Access to Advanced Placement 

Access to advanced coursework can have a powerful impact on students’ college plans and career ambitions. Decades of research have shown that students who benefit from Advanced Placement opportunities are more likely to pursue higher education and enter college with the preparation and confidence to thrive. 

Fair access to those life-changing experiences has long been a priority for the AP Program. About 80% of American public high school students now attend schools with 5 or more AP classes available, the result of a concerted expansion of AP offerings in schools across the nation. But course availability does not always translate into equal access for students, so the AP Program remains focused on encouraging the removal of barriers that stand in the way of equitable opportunity. 

The reports shared here are designed to equip policymakers, school officials, and advocates with the information they need to measure progress toward the imperative of providing all of America’s high school students with preparation for, and access to, appropriately challenging college and career readiness coursework. In schools and districts across the country, many more students from all racial/ethnic groups are participating in AP than in past decades. As you will see from the data, there is still important work to be done.  

We encourage everyone interested in this work to review the AP Program’s toolkit for broadening access to Advanced Placement; to explore the excellent work of Equal Opportunity Schools to expand AP access; and to delve into the valuable report from the Education Trust on the inequities that begin in elementary school and the steps that can be taken to achieve fair access to advanced coursework. 

The data below include several reports, and we welcome feedback on ways we could further refine these formats in support of educators’ and communities’ efforts to broaden access to AP. In the past, comparable AP data were spread across separate spreadsheets for each year and each state; by combining data into these three reports, we hope to make it quicker and easier to compare change over time and between states. If there are additional data points that would help your analyses, please contact us and we’ll do our best to make them available. 

Advanced Placement (AP) Data by Race/Ethnicity 

AP Availability

What this report contains

For the nation overall, and then for each of the 50 states and Washington D.C., this report shows percentages of public high school students who have 5 AP courses, 10 AP courses, and at least 1 AP STEM course available in their schools.  

Why this report is useful 

Availability of AP courses is a precursor to equitable access, so it is vital to understand the extent to which each state is offering AP courses to all groups of students.  

Key findings  

• 79% of public high school students attended high schools offering at least 5 AP courses in the 2022-2023 school year. 

• Native American students were significantly less likely to have 5 or more AP courses available in their high schools: 51% of Native American students attended high schools with 5 or more AP courses in 2022-2023, in comparison to 93% of Asian students, 84% of Hispanic/Latino students, 77% of White students, and 75% of Black students. 

• These same patterns exist when looking at which groups attend schools providing 10 or more AP courses, and schools providing at least 1 AP STEM course. 

• Larger schools are more likely to offer AP. While only 47% of public high schools offered 5 or more AP courses in 2022-2023, they were attended by 79% of the high school population.

AP Participation

What this report contains 

For the nation overall, and then for each of the 50 states and Washington D.C., this report shows the number and percentage of students in each racial/ethnic group who took an Advanced Placement Exam each year. 

Why this report is useful 

Even when AP courses are available to students, a number of factors may prevent equitable participation in those courses, including an insufficient number of sections to serve all willing and interested students (e.g., most high schools offer just one AP section of any given course, limiting access); screening or tracking processes that discourage or restrict registration; or lack of equitable preparation for advanced coursework. Accordingly, it is essential to show exactly what percentage of students in each racial/ethnic group is taking AP in each state, and how rapidly that is changing—or not changing—each year. 

Key findings

• From 2013 to 2023, the number of Latino students participating in AP increased 81%. As a result, 17% of Latino students in grades 10, 11, and 12 participated in AP in 2023; in comparison, 13% of Latino students participated in AP in 2013. 

• From 2013 to 2023, the number of Asian students participating in AP increased 46%. As a result, 47% of Asian students participated in AP in 2023; in comparison, 41% of Asian students participated in AP in 2013. 

• From 2013 to 2023, the number of Black students participating in AP increased 25%. As a result, 11% of Black students participated in AP in 2023; in comparison, 9% of Black students participated in AP in 2013. 

• From 2013 to 2023, the number of White students participating in AP increased 3%. As a result, 19% of White students participated in AP in 2023; in comparison, 17% of White students participated in AP in 2013.  

AP Performance

What this report contains  

The counts of AP Exams earning scores of 5, 4, 3, 2, and 1, and the mean score across exams, earned nationwide and in each state and Washington D.C., overall and by student race/ethnicity.  

Why this report is useful 

Each AP Exam question is psychometrically screened for bias, so unsurprisingly, research finds that students of each racial/ethnic group earn similar scores on AP Examinations if they enter the AP class with similar academic preparation. But because there are substantial and enduring disparities in equitable preparation for advanced academic classes, the annual AP Exam results show significant differences in AP Exam scores. Equitable academic resources and opportunities in earlier grades are critical to shifting these results; the Pre-AP Program is one emerging approach to providing a wide range of students with equitable preparation for advanced coursework. 

Key findings  

• In 2023, the number of credit-qualifying AP Exam scores earned by Black students increased by 17% over 2022, raising the mean score to 2.1. In 2023, Black students earned 50% more credit-qualifying AP Exam scores than they did in 2013. 

• In 2023, the number of credit-qualifying AP Exam scores earned by Latino students increased by 14% over 2022, raising the mean score to 2.4. In 2023, Latino students earned 91% more credit-qualifying AP Exam scores than they did in 2013.  

• In 2023, the number of credit-qualifying AP Exam scores earned by Asian students increased by 11% over 2022, raising the mean score to 3.4. In 2023, Asian students earned 73% more credit-qualifying AP Exam scores than they did in 2013. 

• In 2023, the number of credit-qualifying AP Exam scores earned by White students increased by 6% over 2022, raising the mean score to 3.1. In 2023, White students earned 8% more credit-qualifying AP Exam scores than they did in 2013. 

Note that a sizable number of non-Native American students inadvertently selected “American Indian” as their racial/ethnic designation possibly due to a confusing change in a selection menu, so the participation and performance data for Native American students in 2021 and 2022 are not exclusively the data for Native American students. We report the data as collected, but due to this issue, the Native American student participation and performance data should be interpreted with caution. Changes to collection of Native American student data were implemented in 2023 and will enable more accurate self-reporting in the future.