Earlier this month, the College Board released the results of the Advanced Placement Program® (AP®) Course Audit. This yearlong intensive assessment was undertaken to ensure that high school courses designated "AP" are meeting College Board college-level standards. The comprehensive worldwide review — conducted by 839 professors representing hundreds of colleges and universities as diverse as Yale University, Florida State University and Haverford College — provided secondary school instructors who teach AP courses an opportunity to share their syllabi with college faculty. During the process, instructors received feedback and obtained higher education's confirmation of their courses' value.

"This joint effort between college and secondary school faculty attests to the passion of thousands of educators seeking to ensure that a highly diverse group of students is prepared for the challenges of college," said Gaston Caperton, president of the College Board. "The quality of so many AP teachers' work reaffirms what AP Exam results have long shown — that steadily increasing numbers of high schools can and do prepare their students for college by giving them access to college-level AP courses."

The listing of all courses that have earned authorization to use "AP," because of their high quality, is available online. The registry, the AP Course Ledger www.collegeboard.com/apcourseledger can be found on the College Board Web site. The file can be searched by subject, school and state and is updated each academic year to ensure that only currently approved AP courses are included.

In total, 14,383 secondary schools worldwide succeeded in developing one or more courses that have received such authorization from the College Board.

The assessment of AP courses involved reviewing and analyzing more than 134,000 syllabi to determine which courses fulfill or exceed standards for college-level curricula. Courses that have not received this endorsement from higher education are not allowed to use the "AP" label on student transcripts.

"As a result of this work, college admissions officials, students, parents and educators can have continued confidence that the AP designation on students' transcripts is only allowed for syllabi that have been approved by college faculty," said Trevor Packer, vice president of the Advanced Placement Program.

Admissions officers will also find the AP Course Ledger valuable as they develop robust school and student profiles throughout the selection process. Admissions officers can easily view the full range of authorized AP courses offered at an applicant's school to gain valuable insight into how any particular student has responded to these academic opportunities.

Higher education officials and faculty asked the College Board to facilitate the development of the ledger, college and university admissions officers have increasingly considered AP participation a sign of motivation and college readiness when evaluating candidates for admission. The criteria used to evaluate the courses reflect a powerful national consensus — across colleges, universities and public and private secondary schools — regarding which elements should be present in high-quality, college-level curricula. Click Here for Details.