Mississippi sees rise in Advanced Placement exam participation among class of 2024

The Mississippi Department of Education has released the 2025 Advanced Placement (AP) Cohort Report, revealing an increase in AP exam participation among the state's public school graduates. The report shows that 7,063 students from the class of 2024 took AP exams during their high school years, with 37.3% achieving qualifying scores of three or higher.

This marks a rise in participation compared to the class of 2023, where 6,804 graduates took AP exams, resulting in a 36.5% qualifying score rate. The number of students taking and passing AP courses has doubled since 2013.

The College Board produces this annual report to measure participation and performance on AP exams throughout high school rather than just one academic year. Mississippi is one of 37 states with a statewide AP credit policy, allowing students who score three or higher on an AP exam to earn at least three college credits at any state public university or community college. This policy could potentially save over $8.9 million in tuition and fees for Mississippi's 2024 graduates.

Additional highlights from the report include that 93% of public high schools in Mississippi offer at least one AP course, while 29.6% offer five or more courses. Furthermore, the percentage of public high school graduates taking an AP exam has increased by 11.6 percentage points over the past decade. Mississippi ranks among the top five states for growth in graduates taking AP exams over ten years.

For further details on national results, visit reports.collegeboard.org/ap-program-results.

Media inquiries can be directed to Jean Cook at jcook@mdek12.org or Shanderia Minor at sminor@mdek12.org.

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