Advanced Placement Courses

Advanced Placement (AP) courses are college-level courses offered by high schools. The courses, curriculum, and optional tests are provided by CollegeBoard and must meet CollegeBoard guidelines and procedures.

Information for Schools

AP^® courses are a good way for high school students to access challenging coursework and have the option to gain early credits for college.

AP courses are college-level studies available to high school students, most often in their junior or senior years. Students choose among 38 AP courses in seven subject categories, with an optional final exam at the completion of the course.

Complete information about AP courses is available at the CollegeBoard AP Central website.

Participation Form

If you are considering joining the AP Program this year or are expanding your present AP offerings and would like information on obtaining the AP Order Form, please call AP Services toll free at 877-274-6474 or at 609-771-7300 outside the U.S. and Canada, or write to:

Advanced Placement Program
P.O Box 6671
Princeton, NJ 08541-6671

Courses Available Online

The Iowa Online AP Academy (IOAPA) provides free access to nearly 30 online advanced courses for Iowa students who do not have access to these courses in their schools. IOAPA classes include Advanced Placement® courses for high school students and high school-level courses for eligible middle school students.

Information for Students and Parents

AP courses are college-level studies available to high school students, most often in their junior or senior years. Students choose among 38 AP courses in seven subject categories, with an optional final exam at the completion of the course. AP courses are a good way for high school students to access challenging coursework and have the option to gain early credits for college.

To find out if your high school offers AP courses, contact your high school principal or district curriculum director.

Schools that are not able to offer AP classes on-site can still offer them through the Iowa Online AP Academy.

Iowa AP Index – Each year since 2005, the Belin-Blank Center has released the Iowa AP Index to recognize the Top 50 Iowa accredited public and nonpublic high schools for providing Advanced Placement opportunities to Iowa’s high school students.

Upcoming Activities for AP Coordinators

Spring Ordering Deadline: Ensure Your AP Orders Are Complete

• March 15, 2022 (11:59 p.m. ET), is the deadline to submit new orders for second-semester classes and any changes to fall orders in AP Registration and Ordering. All second-semester AP classes should now be created in AP Registration and Ordering, and students should've entered join codes for their classes.

Fee Reduction Status

• April 30, 2022 (11:59 p.m. ET), is the deadline to indicate students’ fee reduction status in AP Registration and Ordering.

Large-Volume Rebate

• Schools with large AP programs may be eligible to receive rebates to help support the costs associated with managing their AP programs.
• To be eligible to receive a rebate, AP coordinators whose schools administered 150 or more AP Exams need to indicate the intended use for the rebate on the Large-Volume Rebate tab in AP Registration and Ordering.

AP Coordinator Supports

• Learning Opportunities for AP Coordinators
  • Chat with a Coordinator: Schedule a video chat with an experienced AP coordinator over Zoom. Review checklists, benefit from shared best practices, and design optimal testing experiences for AP students. Limited time slots are available for sign up every Friday morning until April 29. 2022.
  • Power Hour Live
    • Feb. 28-March 11, 2022 Join experienced AP coordinators over Zoom for Power Hour Live. You’ll get best practices for AP coordinators leading up to the March 15, 2022 ordering deadline. Plus you’ll hear guidance on how and when to mark exams as canceled or unused, how to switch exam orders between AP Calculus AB and BC, how to indicate your preferred AP ID label sort order, and much more. Sessions are available on multiple days and times, but space is limited.
• AP Coordinator's Manual, Part 2: Part 2 of the 2021-2022 is now available on AP Central.

Professional Learning Opportunities

• AP Capstone Summer Professional Learning: Registration for summer 2022 AP® Seminar and AP Research new teacher training is now open. Training is required for all educators assigned to teach AP Seminar or AP Research for the first time in fall 2022. Workshops will be offered in person and online and follow a five-day synchronous schedule.
• AP Connections to Project Based Learning: Project Based Learning can help build independent learners with the inquiry skills to take on real-world challenges.
  • Research: Project-Based Learning Boosts Student Achievement in AP Courses shows a PBL approach can significantly improve student performance on the AP Exams in a study that includes AP Environmental Science and AP United States Government and Politics.
• AP Summer Institutes offer weeklong intensive professional development programs at which educators can network with peers and learn about tools and resources that inspire success in their Advanced Placement classrooms.
• AP Online Workshops for Teachers: Teachers who attend an online workshop will explore the AP course and exam description, the core document for the course, and review student samples from the 2021 exam.  Your teachers will also learn how AP Classroom can help them plan and focus instruction as well as give data-driven feedback throughout the year.  They’ll complete four modules over one week to receive a certificate of completion with 0.6 CEUs. 
• Become an AP Reader: AP teachers can join the thousands of other AP teachers and college faculty that gather annually to score the millions of student free-response questions from AP Exams that were administered earlier in the year. AP teachers call this event the “best professional development” and they earn CEUs when they participate.
• Discover Pre-AP: Accelerating Learning and Promoting Equity Webinar: Register to participate Wednesday, March 9, 2022 5 p.m. ET (that's 4 p.m. CT) - You’ll hear directly from educators who are offering Pre-AP at their schools, as well as from leaders at the College Board.