Louisiana sees significant rise in advanced placement exam success rates

Louisiana high school students have shown marked improvement in Advanced Placement (AP) exam performance, according to new data from the College Board. The percentage of AP exams with scores qualifying for college credit has increased by 24.5 percentage points since 2021, amounting to nearly two-thirds growth over four years.

Between 2024 and 2025, there was an 11.2% rise in the share of exams earning a qualifying score. AP courses allow students to earn college credit by completing rigorous coursework and scoring at least a 3 on their AP exams.

“Louisiana students continue to prove they are just as capable as any in the nation,” said Louisiana State Superintendent of Education Dr. Cade Brumley. “As we work to reimagine the high school experience, opportunities to earn postsecondary credit play a critical role in ensuring students graduate with the skills to thrive in a career, college, or service.”

In 2025, nearly two-thirds (62.7%) of AP exams taken by Louisiana students earned qualifying scores, up from 51.5% in 2024 and 38.2% in 2021. The number of students who scored at least a 3 on one or more AP exams rose to 12,459 this year, compared with 10,570 last year and 7,100 four years ago—a growth of about 77% since 2021.

Students achieved a total of 19,655 qualifying AP scores across all their exams in 2025—20% higher than last year’s figure and representing an increase of about 80% since 2021. Participation also remained strong: Louisiana students took a total of 31,342 AP exams this year compared with 28,443 in 2021; although participation dipped slightly from last year's total of 31,805 exams taken, there were still more qualifying scores produced this year.

The College Board released national and state-level data for these results; local school system- and school-level data will be provided later this year by the Louisiana Department of Education.

The Advanced Placement Program is managed by the College Board and offers high schoolers access to college-level coursework across subjects such as mathematics, science, English language arts, social studies, world languages, and arts.