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College Board

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Priorities and Ongoing Initiatives

Priorities and Ongoing Initiatives

Through gifts and grants to the College Board, philanthropists and donors ensure that all students are given the opportunity to achieve at high levels in secondary and postsecondary education. Some of the College Board's key initiatives include the following:

  • The College Board Advocacy & Policy Center

    • The College Board Advocacy & Policy Center was established to help transform education in America. Guided by the College Board's principles of excellence and equity in education, the Center works to ensure that students from all backgrounds — including first-generation college goers and low-income students — have the opportunity to succeed in college and beyond. The Center makes critical connections between policy, research and real-world practice to develop innovative solutions to the most pressing challenges in education today.

      Below is a small sample of the current initiatives housed within the Center:
  • Empowering Students Through Advanced Placement

    • The Advanced Placement Program (AP) empowers high school students to reach their highest potential by participating in rigorous, college-level course experiences. With 33 courses and exams in the arts, English, history and social sciences, mathematics and computer science, and world languages, AP helps students develop and apply the skills, abilities and content knowledge they will need later in college. AP motivates students to attend college by exposing them to college-level learning, and can provide a wealth of other benefits, including the opportunity to earn college credit and placement; improving readiness for college admission; higher college completion rates; and a lower cost of college attendance.

      The 6th Annual AP Report to the Nation brings light to the positive impact the Advanced Placement Program is having on school districts throughout the country.

      The College Board believes that all students deserve the opportunity to succeed in college. Recent research shows that traditionally underserved and low-income students who participate in AP, have a greater likelihood of college success.

      A recent report by the National Governors Association (NGA) demonstrates how states can successfully increase rigor by expanding student access to AP courses.

  • Supporting School Success

    • The College Board works closely with schools and school districts committed to K12 success and with funders who support a culture of college readiness for all students. College readiness models are based on district- and school-specific needs assessments and include programs and services that fit those needs.

      The College Board Schools model guides low-income middle and high school students along the path to higher education.

      The EXCELerator™ Schools program, a comprehensive school-improvement plan launched in 2006, is designed to help underrepresented groups enter the pipeline to higher education.

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