University of Wisconsin–Madison Examines Benefits of AP®

Feb. 2012

Midwestern News

In 2011, 75 percent of all freshmen entering the University of Wisconsin–Madison arrived with AP® scores — a record high — illustrating heightened competitiveness for admission to the university. Bobbie Jean St. Arnauld, freshman admissions manager at UW–Madison, said that AP courses on students’ transcripts “tell us that they’re challenging themselves … preparing for the rigor that they will encounter at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. These students are going to be the most successful.”

In 2009, UW–Madison conducted a research study to further explore the value of AP. Joanne Berg, vice provost for enrollment management, said the study was done “to demystify some of the things we were hearing from faculty members.”

More than 90 percent of the nation’s four-year colleges and universities have an AP policy that grants incoming students credit, advanced placement or both for qualifying AP Exam scores. Universities in more than 60 countries recognize AP scores in the admission process and/or award credit or advanced placement for qualifying scores.

In 2010, more than 3,800 colleges and universities accepted qualifying AP Exam scores for credit, advanced placement or both.

UW–Madison’s study showed “that students who received AP credits … were able to graduate sooner than other students,” Berg said, and were able to start advanced courses sooner, thereby freeing up courses for other students who hadn’t received AP credits.

For Gloria Mari Beffa, professor of mathematics, the study revealed that “students who came with a 3, 4 or 5 on the exams were doing as well as or better than those taking our classes and exams. So we used that data to adjust our credit evaluation.”

AP Reader Charles J. James, a professor of German at UW–Madison, said, “I worked every summer with teachers who teach AP, and my impression is that their courses are just as rigorous as the courses that we place students into here.”