California will receive $7.6 million to help low-income high school students pay for Advanced Placement tests, the federal government announced Wednesday.
The funding, based on the anticipated number of test-takers and other factors, will provide up to $38 per exam for as many as three exams for each student. The goal is to increase the number of low-income students who can earn scores high enough to qualify for college academic credit.
The total funding of $21.5 million will be distributed among 43 states.
Last year, California used grant funding from this program to pay for all but $5 of a participating student’s AP exam cost. The full fee for an exam is currently $87. Without the federal grant, low-income students would pay $53 through subsidies provided by schools and the College Board, which administers the tests.
