This week, state Education Commissioner Richard Corcoran announced that Florida leads the nation in terms of participation and third in the nation on performance on Advanced Placement (AP) exams which offer college credit for high school students.
Corcoran pointed to data released by the College Board.
“These results are worthy of celebration, and I congratulate the students whose hard work and dedication is paying off,” Corcoran said on Monday. “Governor DeSantis has a bold vision for making Florida first in all education measures, and his massive investments in K-12 education will help Florida’s students soar to even greater heights. I look forward to working with the Legislature to secure this critical education funding, with the goal of topping this accomplishment and every other national ranking moving forward.”
“There are significant financial benefits to students who perform well on AP exams,” Corcoran’s office noted. “According to the College Board, in May 2018, Florida public and private high school students took a total of 209,678 AP exams that resulted in scores of 3, 4, or 5. Based on students’ opportunity to earn at least 3 college credits for each AP exam score of 3 or higher, this represents an estimated 629,034 college credits. At an average rate of $212.00 per credit hour, the total potential cost savings for the state’s students and families was $133,355,208.”
Corcoran noted that almost 56 percent of high school graduates in Florida took the AP exam and 31.7 percent of high school graduates earned a 3 score or higher on one of the exams. That was enough to move Florida from fourth place in 2017 to third last year and is above the national average of 23.5 percent.
“Florida is ranked third in the nation for improvement over the past 10 years in the percentage of graduates scoring 3 or higher on the AP exam during high school, improving by 12.4 percentage points during the last decade,” Corcoran noted before showcasing two counties in Southwest Florida with strong results. “Lee County and Manatee County made the ninth annual AP Honor Roll, which recognizes districts increasing access to AP coursework while simultaneously maintaining or increasing their success.”
Kevin Derby can be reached at Kevin.Derby@floridadaily.com.
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