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Ky. education council guarantees state college credit for AP courses

June 06, 2012|Journal staff report | news@jessaminejournal.com

The Kentucky Council on Postsecondary Education has approved a policy guaranteeing college credit at the state’s public four-year universities and two-year community and technical colleges to students earning qualifying scores through the College Board’s Advanced Placement Program (AP) and College-Level Examination Program (CLEP) exams. The policy, which was approved in April and goes into effect in fall 2012, is designed to help students reduce college costs while also increasing the number of students graduating on time.

Recent high-school graduates as well as returning and current college students can take advantage of the opportunity. To earn college credit through the new policy, high-school students need to achieve a qualifying score of 3 or higher on an AP exam, while students of all ages need to earn a qualifying score of 50 or higher on a CLEP exam. The credit-granting policy was established by a statewide team of Kentucky’s leading college faculty and administrative leaders.

The AP program offers rigorous college-level courses and examinations that foster an emphasis in the high-school classroom on critical thinking, analysis, and writing. The program encourages students to think critically, construct solid arguments and consider many sides of an issue. CLEP enables students of all ages to demonstrate college-level achievement through a program of exams aligned with undergraduate college courses. Students can use both AP and CLEP examinations to demonstrate mastery of college-level material and to earn college credit or exemption from introductory college courses.

“By requiring public colleges and universities to standardize acceptable AP and CLEP scores as well as create a clearly defined pathway from community college course work to four-year degree program completion, Kentucky is making significant progress in establishing a seamless pathway to postsecondary success.” said state Rep. Carl Rollins, D-Midway.

The new policy is the result of House Bill 160 — passed during Kentucky’s 2010 legislative session — which proposed that the state’s two- and four-year public postsecondary schools (community, technical colleges and the state’s public university system) work more closely with high schools to maximize opportunities for students to pursue college-level course work.

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