Waivers available for AP exam fees
A federal grant to the Commonwealth of Kentucky will help defray the cost of Advanced Placement (AP) examination fees for low-income students. The U.S. Department of Education's AP Fee Waiver Grant was recently awarded to Kentucky. The Commonwealth will receive $146,274 for the 2008-09 school year. Kentucky received the grant in previous years and, over the last six years, the number of exams paid for by the test fee program has more than doubled. The grant will enable students who qualify for free or reduced-price school meals to take an AP exam at no cost. This grant also covers International Baccalaureate (IB) registration and test fees for students meeting the free or reduced-price meal criteria. Each AP exam costs $84. Students who qualify for free or reduced-price meals automatically qualify for the waiver and their school counselors note their eligibility when ordering AP exams and submitting IB paperwork. The Advanced Placement program, managed by the College Board, is a cooperative educational endeavor between secondary schools and colleges and universities. AP courses provide avenues for motivated college-bound students to access challenging curricula and in many cases, even earn college credit while they are in high school. The International Baccalaureate program, managed by the non-profit International Baccalaureate Organization, is a full academic program encompassing an internationally standardized curriculum and rigorous internal and external assessments.
For more information on the waiver program, please call Larry Murphy at the Kentucky Department of Education at (502) 564-4772.