Low-Income Students and Advanced Placement

Low-income students struggle with AP exam fee waiver cuts, By Stephen Ceasar, March 31, 2012, Los Angeles Times: “Because of a federal budget cut, tens of thousands of low-income high school students will face steeper price tags for their Advanced Placement exams this May – forcing many to scramble to meet costs and others to forgo exams that could save thousands in college tuition. At El Rancho High School in Pico Rivera, where nearly two-thirds of would-be test takers are from low-income families, anxiety over passing is being replaced by worries that students will not be able to afford the college-level exams they have studied for all school year. Rocio Ramirez planned on taking six tests, which now ring up to $204. Gerardo Artega has begun chipping away at his $151 bill for five tests by saving and paying the school $10 a week. And Alexis Lemus, who planned to take four exams, will now take only three – reluctantly dropping the English literature exam he feels certain he could pass. In December, Congress slashed funding from $43 million to $29 million for the federal Advanced Placement programs that fund fee waivers for low-income students…”