Dive Brief:

• On Wednesday, the U.S. Department of Education announced that $28.4 million in grants had been issued to states to boost access to Advanced Placement exams.
• The money helps offset the cost of exam fees for low-income students, making the courses more accessible.
• In total, 38 states, plus the Virgin Islands and the District of Columbia, received the funding.

Dive Insight:

Access to Advanced Placement exams has become a priority for the administration in recent years. 

"We particularly want to ensure that college-going culture is available to our low-income students," John King, a senior advisor in the department, told Education Week. "Secretary Duncan and I both believe it is our role to help eliminate barriers whenever possible.”

In 2013, Congress gave the program almost $9 million extra compared to 2012, but no additional funding has been added since. Concurrently, the number of low-income students taking AP exams has increased dramatically. Nevada, for example, saw its number jump from 79 to almost 5,000 in a decade.

With those shifts have come increasing supports for students outside of class time, as well. Some schools have found that even struggling students benefit and can thrive in AP classes if given some extra support. Some have gone beyond traditional avenues to do so, with new programs like Davidson Next offering AP blended learning tools for STEM-related subjects via a collaboration between Davidson College, MOOC provider edX, and the College Board.