Florida ranked third nationwide for student success on Advanced Placement exams, according to new data released this week from the College Board.
The Sunshine State also placed ahead of Massachusetts, one of the countrys model states which is well-known for its high academic achievements.
AP courses aim to emulate first-year college courses, allowing students to earn credits toward their undergraduate degrees while theyre still in high school. In order to pass an AP exam, test takers have to receive a 3 or higher out of a possible 5.
The classes can give students an idea of the rigors of college-level classes as well as provide them with the opportunity to get a head start on college courses. On top of that, getting credit for AP classes can mean big savings for students. According to the College Board, the total potential cost savings for the states students and families was $112,081,813, assuming each class costs around $212 per credit hour.
These aspects of the test can greatly incentivize students to take AP courses -- and the number of students enrolling in the classes has grown by leaps and bounds over the last decade.
In 2000, about 65,000 AP tests were administered. Just last year, that number had topped 320,000.
Most students take AP courses in subjects like history, geography and English language, but AP classes cover a wide variety of subjects from psychology to economics to Latin.
In 2014, 30 percent of Florida high school graduates graduated having passed at least one AP course, putting the state not too far behind Maryland and Connecticut, which had AP success rates of 31.8 percent and 30.8 percent, respectively.
Florida placed well above the national AP exam success rate, which was 21.6 percent.
This was the first year Florida surpassed Massachusetts -- a state which Florida has generally looked up to as an example of education success -- for AP pass rates. The Bay State had 29.4 percent of its 2014 high school graduates pass at least one AP exam.
Massachusetts comes up in many conversations about raising education standards nationwide since the state typically tends to score highest in fourth- and eighth-grade reading and mathematics nationwide.
But when it comes to AP success, there's a new star in town -- and it's Florida.
The Florida Department of Education provided the report to Sunshine State News since it was not released publicly.
Reach Tampa-based reporter Allison Nielsen by email at allison@sunshinestatenews.com or follow her on Twitter: @AllisonNielsen
