Should AP Classes Count Toward College Credit?

Many high school students take advanced placement classes. They are taught by a high school teacher in a high school setting, but the content of the class is very much the same as a freshman college class. The thing that colleges use to determine whether or not the student can have it count toward their college credits is the score that they receive on their AP test. A score of four or five is generally accepted at most colleges. A three on an AP test may or may not be accepted. High school students see advanced placement classes as a positive. These classes look good on a student’s transcript when applying for colleges and they can even help a student to already have some credits when they get to college (as long as they got the passing score on the AP test). They’re a money saver too. But a new question about AP classes has arose in the last few years. Should AP classes count toward college credit?

In The Link between Advanced Placement Experience and Early College Success by Kristin Klopfenstein and M. Kathleen Thomas it says “The college board provides plenty of studies showing that passing AP exam scores are strong predictors of college success.” The problem is how people interpurate these studies. “The public, including legislators, interperet this to mean that high AP scores cause college success,” (Klopfenstein/Thomas). The main thing that these people want is for students to be successful in college and for them to graduate with a good degree. In order for students to be successful in college they must be prepared for college. Most students go to college unprepared. Advanced placement classes prepare students to be successful in college, not cause students to be successful in