More Rhode Island students taking — and earning college credit — on AP exams

More of Rhode Island’s high-schoolers are taking Advanced Placement exams in hopes of earning college credits.

Rhode Island students earned potentially college-credit-qualifying scores on 10,427 exams during the 2025-26 school year — more than double the number recorded in 2021 — according to preliminary data released by the Rhode Island Department of Education (RIDE) on Monday.

AP exams, which are managed by the College Board, range in score from 1 (no recommendation) to 5 (“extremely well qualified”) and cover collegiate-level math, science, history, English and world languages. The College Board classifies a score of 3 as “qualified,” and it’s roughly equivalent to a B-minus, C-plus or C in a college course.

The education not-for-profit organization as well as the American Council on Education recommend that college credit be awarded for scores of 3 or higher, although policies vary by institution. A 2023 College Board survey of 1,300 nonprofit four-year campuses noted that about 70% of responding institutions awarded credit for exams scoring at least 3 or higher.

Strong AP scores can substitute for some introductory college courses, allowing students to skip these basic classes, lowering the number of credits they need to complete which could lower the cost of their college degree as well.

The latest preliminary data from the education department show that over 70% of exams achieved this benchmark score of 3 in the 2025-2026 school year — an 11% increase over the previous year and more than double from five years ago.

RIDE noted that more than 14,500 AP exams were taken in the 2025-2026 school year, which represented an 8% increase over the previous year, although the department did not provide an exact total of exams taken.

“Rhode Island’s latest AP results reflect the tremendous momentum our state is experiencing and are a testament to the hard work of Rhode Island students, educators, school leaders, and families,” Education Commissioner Angélica Infante-Green said in a statement.

The commissioner noted the state has worked on “expanding access to rigorous, engaging coursework,” and cited the AP outcomes as evidence “that when students are provided with opportunity, support, and high-quality learning experiences, they rise to the challenge and excel.”

RIDE also highlighted that Providence — whose schools returned to local control on July 1 after nearly seven years under state control — also saw a rise in qualifying scores.

Providence Public Schools students took 2,210 AP exams in the 2025-2026 school year, up from 1,961 the previous year — an increase of 249 exams, or about 12.7%.

The number of Providence exams earning a score of at least 3 also increased from 1,109 to 1,215, a gain of 106 exams, or about 9.6%. But participation grew slightly more quickly than the number of qualifying scores, and the percentage of the district’s qualifying scores fell from 56.6% to 55%.

The preliminary AP results arrive as Rhode Island also reported its highest graduation rate on record — a statewide figure of 85.5% who graduated on time during the 2025-2026 school year, according to RIDE’s data.

Gov. Dan McKee said in a statement that the scores “reflect years of intentional work.”

“My administration will continue to support our students and educators as we work to strengthen academic achievement and close the achievement gap with Massachusetts,” he said.

Finalized College Board figures from the 2024-25 school year showed that 70.8% of Rhode Island AP scores were 3 or higher, compared with 76.6% in Massachusetts. Bay State students also took more exams: About 841 AP exams were recorded per 1,000 public high school juniors and seniors, compared with 513 in Rhode Island.

The education department noted that the figures remain preliminary and may change when the College Board releases its validated data this fall.