The Arizona Department of Education received nearly $650,000 in federal grant funds to help students in need pay for advanced placement exams.
The U.S. Department of Education gave out about $28 million to 41 states and Washington, D.C., as part of an effort to make college-level exams, which cost money to take, more accessible. The grant given to the states is a reimbursement for students who qualified in the 2015-2016 school year, of which there were 517 in Arizona.
Advanced placement exams, which cost $93 per exam, are a way for high school students to earn college credit while they are in high school.
The exams are offered by the College Board, which also administers the SAT. The grant money also covers other high-level exams, including ones administered by the International Baccalaureate Organization and Cambridge International Examinations.
The high costs of the exams are a barrier to students who come from lower-income families, the federal education agency said.
“The cost of a test should never prevent students from taking their first step toward higher education through advanced placement courses,” said James Cole Jr., general counsel for the U.S. Department of Education, in a news release.
The aid is distributed to state education agencies, which then reimburse individual schools, according to Alexis Susdorf, a spokeswoman for the Arizona education department.
At Desert View High School, students who qualify for the free- or reduced-lunch program pay about $20 out of pocket per exam, said Mario Castro, assistant principal of curriculum and instruction. More than half of the 304 students who took 471 AP exams last year qualified.
The College Board has fee waivers that reduce the exam fees to about $50 for students who qualify for free or reduced lunch. That fee is further reduced with efforts such as the federal grant given to state education departments.
Desert View also offers installment programs for parents who cannot afford the entire amount of exams up front and facilitates a club where students raise funds for exam fees, Castro said.
Money should not be a barrier to a student’s success, he said. Research has shown that students who enroll in advanced placement courses and take the exams are more likely to graduate and go to college.
“Every kid who wants to take the test, we want them to take the test,” he said.
