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Department Awards $11 Million to 39 States to Help Pay Fees for Advanced Placement Tests |
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From Education Newsfeed: U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings today announced the award of $11 million in grants to 39 states to help them pay the fees for advanced placement tests for low-income students. The department makes awards to state educational agencies to enable them to cover part or all of the test fees for low-income students who are enrolled in an Advanced Placement (AP) or International Baccalaureate (IB) class and plan to take an AP or IB test. The program aims to encourage low income students to take AP or IB tests and obtain college credit for high school courses, reducing the time and cost required to complete a postsecondary degree. "These grants will help more low-income students take advantage of the rigorous coursework they need to succeed in college and the workforce," Spellings said. The grants also complement the President's fiscal year 2009 budget request to increase funding for Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate programs to $70 million, in order to help prepare more educators to teach these challenging classes and encourage more students from high-need schools to take and pass AP courses and tests. Awards may be used only to support AP test fees for low-income students. Tests administered by the College Board and the International Baccalaureate Organization are covered. Traditionally, 11th- and 12th-graders take an AP exam after completing the corresponding AP course. However, participation in an exam is open to any student regardless of course participation or grade level. In the U.S., more than 90 percent of colleges and universities have a policy of granting incoming students credit, placement, or both, for qualifying AP test scores.
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