Nearly One-Third of '04 HS Grads Took AP or IB Courses

You have every reason to be proud of doing well in an AP or IB class -- but you may want to think twice if you think that achievement will be enough to make your college application stand out from the crowd.

According to a study recently released by the Department of Education's National Center for Education Statistics, over 30 per cent of the students who graduated from U.S. high schools in 2004 had at least one AP or IB course on their transcripts.

AP and IB courses were even more common among students in demographic categories associated with high rates of college attendance. 43.6 per cent of students whose parents attended college took AP or IB courses, as did over 50 per cent of students from high-income households.

Source: "Academic Pathways, Preparation, and Performance," The National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education (Washington, DC), 2006