The Potential of Advanced Placement to Improve College Outcomes and Narrow Racial/Ethnic and Socioeconomic Disparities

Abstract

The U.S. economy requires a highly educated workforce, yet too few black, Latino, and low-income students attend, persist, and graduate from college. The present study examines the college outcomes of participants in a model Advanced Placement® (AP) intervention to shed light on its effectiveness and determine whether improving AP participation and performance is a promising strategy for closing persistent racial/ethnic and socioeconomic disparities in college outcomes. Findings suggest the college outcomes of program participants are better than those of similar students statewide while also highlighting variation within and across subgroups. At the same time, they confirm that AP participation and performance predict college outcomes and suggest that improving AP participation and performance among low-income white, black, and Latino students could be a useful strategy for closing persistent racial/ethnic and socioeconomic disparities in college outcomes.