Minnesota Advanced Placement pass rates have recovered after their dramatic drop to 60.4 percent during the deeply challenging 2020-2021 school year.
Schools made strong efforts to regain these losses due to the essential nature of AP courses. AP courses allow students to engage with complex material and apply themselves to a rigorous curriculum. Passing an AP course (earning a three or above on the yearly exam) can gain a high school student college credit. What’s more, college admissions boards consider AP courses to be an indication of a high quality student, making it more likely that students will gain scholarships or admission to distinguished universities.
Thankfully, concerted efforts to revive AP pass rates post-COVID succeeded. In 2024, Minnesota students achieved pass rates of 72.5 percent, placing Minnesota in eleventh place nationally for pass rates.
Yet, these laudatory pass rates obscure the significant work to be done. The score increase comes as overall AP participation has winnowed down to a smaller, elite group of Minnesota students. The pandemic school years began a strong downward participation trend that is still reflected in 2024’s low participation numbers. The Minnesota Office of Higher Education reported that the 2021 and 2022 school years saw dramatic reductions in the numbers of students who took advanced courses, including AP, IB, and concurrent enrollment.
During the 2022 school year, a mere 11.2 percent of public high schoolers in the state took an AP course at all. Unfortunately, not all Minnesota schools offer an opportunity for that number to rise. College Board data notes that in 2024, three years after the pandemic, only 26 percent of Minnesota public high schools offered five or more AP courses for students to take.
Ability to participate in an AP course differs dramatically along racial lines. In 2024, 38 percent of Native American students and 60 percent of white students did not attend a public school that offered five or more AP courses, while 78 percent of Asian students and 82 percent of Black or African American students did. These racial disparities might reflect the fact that most students in smaller, rural districts in Minnesota tend to be white or Native American, and those districts have fewer resources to direct towards AP courses.
These low participation numbers place the majority of Minnesota students below the national average. Just over 20 percent of the Minnesota Class of 2024 passed at least one AP test during their high school career; 22.6 percent of all students in the nation also do so.
A bill authored by State Rep. Matt Norris, DFL-Blaine to create a pilot program that automatically enrolled eligible students in honors and AP courses was put forward after the release of this data. This program would automatically enroll high-achieving students in appropriately rigorous courses, rather than wait for students and families to expose themselves to the opportunity and select the course. (Students would be able to opt into less rigorous courses if desired.) While the bill enjoyed bipartisan legislative support, it was not given a hearing. Even though the bill itself has not found a profitable conclusion, local school districts are free to enact similar creative policies. If Gov. Tim Walz opts Minnesota into the federal tax-credit provision recently created through the Educational Choice for Children Act (ECCA), students could use the scholarship to pay for AP readiness tutoring and exam support.
In an increasingly competitive academic and business landscape, Minnesota must create a culture of expectation that more students participate in rigorous courses. The students who create the current high AP pass rates must not be allowed to remain an elite minority. Minnesota’s education program should foster excellence for all, not just for some.
The Minnesota Department of Education has released district recommendations regarding AP participation. Notably, they have expressed that regional barriers to AP course access need to be examined and removed within rural schools and that rigorous courses need to be promoted in all schools to ensure AP readiness. If you are a parent or community leader who would like to be involved in making these recommendations a reality, consider serving on your district advisory committee. These committees tend to be undersized and community involvement is welcomed. Ask your local school board for more information.
