Advanced fees for Advanced Placement
AP students are now having to pay for part of their exam fee
AP Exam fees have changed over the course of the academic year. Millard West is now having students pay for part of the test compared to previous years. “The updated fee is a bit unfortunate,” junior Brenna Batchelder said. ”I can see why the school decided to make the change.”
September 21, 2020
AP students are now being asked to pay part of the AP exam fee compared to having the school pay the fee exclusively. This year students are expected to pay $40 and the school will pay for the rest of the exam.
These advanced courses are offered as college general education requirements that most college students would traditionally take their freshmen year. At the end of each course, students are given the opportunity to take an AP exam that determines if the student gets the college credit.
“I like being challenged,” senior Sophia Allgood said. “I think it’s super awesome that the schools offer advanced classes for people who want to take them.”
The exam cost $95 this year which is a dollar more than last year which the website does not give an explanation for. If students decide not to take the test they are allowed a refund. Normally, if a student fails to take the exam after signing up, there is a $40 fee which the company is not implementing for the current school year. However, there is a $40 late to order fee which students are still expected to pay.
In a letter to AP students, assistant principal Dr. Jennifer Allen said. ““AP Exam fees will be paid through Synergy and are due by October 30, 2020 for students taking fall AP classes. Fees will be loaded into Synergy by the end of October, once the AP Exam has been ordered.”
As of last year College Board, the organization in charge of distributing the tests, was sued following the modified tests in May. Due to the increased amount of students online taking the 45 minute modified test, many people had trouble submitting their work, meaning they would have to retake the test in June. The lawsuit asked that the College Board accept test answers if students were able to provide proof they were completed by timestamp, photo and/or email.
“The lawsuit was filed by parents on behalf of students who could not submit answers, as well as by the National Center of Fair and Open Testing,” Valerie Strauss, a reporter for The Washington Post, wrote in her article titled Class-action lawsuit filed against College Board about botched AP tests. “Schwartz, in his statement, called the lawsuit ‘a PR stunt masquerading as a legal complaint’ that was ‘manufactured’ FairTest.”
Currently, the exams for this year are scheduled for May. The tests are expected to be the traditional three hour time frame. The future, however, is still uncertain and the exams can always change.
