On the path to equity: AP/IB testing free for all Montgomery County students

Beginning in the 2023-2024 school year, Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate testing will be made free for all students within Montgomery County Public Schools. This decision is monumental in providing students with the opportunities they need to succeed and takes MCPS one step further on the path to equity.

In past years, AP and IB testing have been a pricey investment, with AP tests usually costing around $100 and IB tests around $120. While this may not sound like an unreasonable amount, for many students, particularly those of low-income backgrounds, it can be daunting. Spending what might be the product of hours of work on a test with no guarantee of passing it often discourages students from registering for it at all.

The price acts as even more of a deterrent to students that would otherwise have taken multiple AP or IB courses and exams. Although $100 may not be an absurdly tall demand, $500 dollars can be another story altogether – the difference between a full and empty refrigerator.

Come March and May, students experience high levels of stress, feeling the pressure of securing good exam results not only so they can receive college credit, but so that they can ensure that their money was not wasted. Test results that do not meet expectations can be incredibly disheartening and most students decide against putting more money and effort into retaking it.

Although the College Board provides a $36 dollar fee reduction per AP exam for eligible students with financial need, this assistance is granted only to a small population of students. After all, even those that have the money can often feel like the price of the exam is not worth its benefits. Absolving the entire student body of the cost, making it so that there is nothing to lose, encourages more students to register.

MCPS would be spending $3.4 million of its budget on this, a fact that leads some to believe that the decision may be excessive, especially in a county that is already fairly wealthy. Nevertheless, the money will pay off by bolstering students’ college applications, saving them thousands of dollars on college courses in the future, preparing them for college courses, and creating a more educated student body.

“I think that MCPS covering the cost of all AP and IB tests is an important step towards increasing the accessibility of advanced courses,” Montgomery Blair High School sophomore Rosalind Merrill said. “Costs for testing can quickly add up over four years of high school, so I hope that by removing any cost barrier, it will increase the number of students able and willing to take an AP or IB class.”

Such an integral factor in college acceptance, high school performance, and educational opportunity should not be accessible only to those that can afford it. MCPS’s effort to level the playing field for all students and expand the opportunities available to them will hopefully become a catalyst for surrounding counties to take similar measures.

Written by Anjali Harrison of Montgomery Blair High School

Photo Courtesy of Flickr