Policies and Procedures
Are there any fees associated with the AP Course Audit?
No, there is no fee to participate in the AP Course Audit or receive authorization to use the "AP" designation for courses.
Can schools order and administer AP Exams without completing the AP Course Audit?
Yes, the AP Course Audit is only required for schools desiring to:
use the "AP" designation on students' transcripts
be listed in the ledger of authorized AP courses provided each fall to college and university admissions offices and the public.
Schools that simply offer the AP Exam as an opportunity for their students to earn college credit, without actually labeling the school's courses "AP" on students' transcripts do not need to participate in the AP Course Audit, and can continue offering AP Exams to their students.
Does the College Board recommend a particular size for AP courses?
The College Board recognizes that schools have varying degrees of human and financial resources, which can affect class size. Each individual school should make a decision that best suits its needs.
Will the College Board audit "Pre-AP" courses?
The College Board does not design, develop, or assess courses labeled "Pre-AP." The College Board discourages the labeling of courses as "Pre-AP." Typically, such courses create a track, thereby limiting access to AP classes. The College Board supports the assertion that all students should have access to preparation for AP and other challenging courses. Courses labeled "Pre-AP" can inappropriately restrict access to AP and other college-level work and as such, are inconsistent with the fundamental purpose of the College Board's Pre-AP initiatives, which are professional development workshops designed to help teachers instill more rigor in whatever courses they are teaching students in the years prior to AP.
Do schools have to complete the audit each year?
After receiving authorization during any given year, schools will not need to submit AP Course Audit forms or syllabi in following years unless the teacher has changed, the school offers a new AP course, or the curricular and resource requirements for a course undergo significant revision. Beginning in March of each year, principals may request renewal of their schools' course authorizations for the following year through their AP Course Audit online accounts.
Why do teachers need to submit the AP Course Audit form and syllabus?
The AP Course Audit is, at heart, a way of achieving a mutual understanding between those leading the course, the AP teachers; their principals; and colleges and universities, who gain access to a ledger of courses authorized to use the "AP" designation. Each school will participate in the audit differently, with some schools or districts, perhaps, using a common syllabus for single subjects and others using syllabi that vary by teacher. In order to ensure that each and every teacher demonstrates their awareness and inclusion of each course's curricular requirements in their course, we need to require that all teachers submit the same type of materials for review.
I teach more than one section of my AP course. Do I have to submit a syllabus for each section?
Teachers must submit one syllabus for each AP course taught. So long as a teacher teaching multiple sections of the same course uses the same syllabus for each section, only that syllabus needs to be submitted. If a teacher teaches two different AP courses, for example, AP U.S. History and AP World History, he or she will have to submit separate AP Course Audit forms and syllabi for each subject.
What does authorization actually entail?
Authorization to use the "AP" designation for your course indicates College Board permission to use the designation on students' transcripts. The course will be listed as an authorized AP course in a ledger provided to colleges and universities each fall and made available to the public via the Web.
What if my AP teacher leaves the school after the AP Course Audit has been completed?
The replacement teacher must submit the AP Course Audit form and syllabus for review. If a previously approved syllabus will be used in the course, the teacher will need to submit that syllabus for verification purposes. The teacher can streamline the review process by providing the syllabus ID number (available from the principal or AP Coordinator's page on the Course Audit Website). If the teacher is replaced after June 1, 2007, it is incumbent upon the replacement teacher to submit materials for review in order for your school's entry in the 2008-09 ledger to accurately represent the AP program at your school.
If the College Board determines that your school is applying the "AP" designation to any courses or sections of courses taught at your school, which were not authorized for the appropriate academic year through the AP Course Audit process, your school's name may not be included in future versions of the ledger, regardless of whether other courses at your school have been authorized.
What if we do not have an AP teacher in place for the 2008-09 academic year until after the June 1, 2008, preferred submission date?
Schools may submit AP Course Audit materials after June 1, 2008, for the 2008-09 academic year, but the College Board cannot guarantee that these courses will be authorized in time for inclusion in the first edition of the ledger of authorized AP courses provided to colleges and universities. Colleges and universities will be informed of subsequently authorized courses via periodic updates to the ledger.
What role can districts play in the AP Course Audit?
Districts can work with their schools' teachers to ensure they understand the AP Course Audit's curricular requirements and timeline. Districts can also help teachers prepare syllabi for submission.
Does the AP Course Audit specify educational background or certification requirements for AP teachers?
No, there are no formal requirements that a teacher must satisfy to teach an AP course. However, the College Board advocates high standards for Advanced Placement teachers in the following areas: content knowledge, teacher certification, pedagogy and student learning, analysis and reflection, and ongoing professional development. Although the College Board recognizes that there is no single path to becoming an effective AP teacher, the educational background and professional development of the teacher can greatly improve the quality of his or her teaching. The College Board encourages high school administrators and AP teachers to review the document AP Teacher Standards available on AP Central at the document library, which discusses these topics in greater detail.
AP Document Library
Does the AP Course Audit require teachers to participate in professional development?
No, the AP Course Audit does not mandate a type or amount of teacher professional development. However, the College Board encourages schools to provide funding opportunities for their AP teacher(s) to attend workshops, Summer Institutes, or other professional development activities. The College Board strongly recommends that AP teachers attend a professional development experience in their subject area before teaching the AP course for the first time, and on a periodic basis thereafter. Examples of College Board workshops and independent Summer Institutes endorsed by the College Board are listed on the AP Central events page.
AP Central Events
Meeting Course Requirements
What is a "hands-on" lab?
A hands-on laboratory experience is one in which students manipulate, observe, explore, and think about science using concrete materials. Hands-on labs must be guided by a science educator. For the purpose of the AP Course Audit, the College Board considers a virtual lab to be an interactive experience during which students observe and manipulate computer-generated objects, data, or phenomena in order to fulfill the learning objectives of a laboratory experience. These objectives include, but are not limited to, generating and exploring answers to experimental questions, drawing and evaluating conclusions, and thinking and communicating effectively about science. For the purpose of the AP Course Audit, the College Board considers computer-based or teacher-led demonstrations neither a virtual nor hands-on laboratory experience in and of themselves, though these elements may enhance the course's primary laboratory component.
Note: Online course providers utilizing virtual labs may receive authorization to use the "AP" designation provided their virtual labs develop in students the skills and learning objectives of hands-on labs.
Online/Distance Learning AP Courses
We cover one or more of the AP Course Audit curricular requirements in a course prior to the AP course, rather than in the AP course itself. Can we still receive authorization to use the "AP" designation?
Authorization will be granted on a case-by-case basis. If you cannot attest to inclusion in your course of one or more of the AP Course Audit curricular requirements when you initial the AP Course Audit form, you should indicate that you are meeting the requirement through an alternate approach, and then describe that alternate approach on your syllabus.
How do we complete the AP Course Audit for a multiyear course, and may we affix the "AP" designation to each year of a multiyear course?
Colleges and universities typically expect that the AP course is taught across no more than one academic year. If you cannot attest to inclusion of all of the AP Course Audit curricular requirements within one academic year when you initial the AP Course Audit form, you will need to submit a syllabus that includes both years' study. This syllabus will need to demonstrate that both years of study are at the college level and that all AP Course Audit curricular requirements are fulfilled across the sequence of courses. Authorization will be granted on a case-by-case basis.
The title we use for the course at our school is slightly different from the official AP name of the course (for example, "Western Civilization" is our title for the course that prepares students for the AP European History Exam). Can we affix the "AP" designation to our own title for the course when we list that course on students' transcripts, etc.?
No, the "AP" designation can only be used in association with the official AP course titles. But you can continue to use your current course title and then insert the official AP course title in brackets either before or after your own course title.
Examples of acceptable and unacceptable course titles:
OK: AP European History
OK: Western Civilization [AP European History]
OK: [AP European History] Western Civilization
NOT OK: AP Western Civilization
AP Course Titles and Abbreviations
The system we use to create transcripts only allows for a small number of characters. Are there abbreviations for the AP courses?
The College Board is aware of this problem and has created abbreviations for AP course names schools may use on transcripts
AP Course Titles and Abbreviations
We combine AP courses at our school (for example, we combine AP U.S. History and AP English Literature into an interdisciplinary course called American Studies). How do we receive authorization to conduct such combined AP courses, and how should we then affix the "AP" designation to such courses?
Complete the AP Course Audit forms for both courses and submit with each form the syllabus for the interdisciplinary course. If both AP subjects' curricular requirements are fulfilled, you will receive authorization for both AP courses. The "AP" designation can only be used with the official AP course titles, but you can certainly continue to use your current course title and then insert the official AP course titles in brackets either before or after your own course title.
Examples of acceptable and unacceptable course titles:
OK: AP English Literature and Composition/AP United States History
OK: American Studies [AP English Literature and Composition/AP United States History]
OK: [AP English Literature and Composition/AP United States History] American Studies
NOT OK: AP American Studies
Alternate Providers
If our school uses a virtual school or other online provider to deliver an online AP course to our students, can that course be listed as an AP course on the student's transcript and in the ledger of AP courses offered at our school?
If your school offers online AP courses through an online course provider, such as a virtual school, those courses may be listed on students' transcripts if the online AP course provider has received permission from the College Board to label its course "AP." Your school will be able to indicate through the AP Course Audit Web site which authorized online courses you are offering to your students. These online AP courses will then be included with your school's other authorized courses in the ledger sent to colleges and universities.
Some online providers offering authorized AP courses will be listed on AP Central before schools can begin submitting AP Course Audit materials. If your chosen online AP course provider does not appear on this list, you should submit your provider's contact information via the Online AP Course Providers Contact Form at the link below. The AP Program will then mail the provider's instructional leader detailed information about how to submit AP Course Audit materials for review.
AP Course Audit Providers
AP science courses require a hands-on (not virtual) laboratory component. Online course providers utilizing virtual labs (rather than hands-on) should submit their laboratory materials for the audit. If these lab materials are determined to develop the skills and learning objectives of hands-on labs, then courses which use these labs may receive authorization to use the "AP" designation.
How do homeschooled students receive authorization to use the "AP" designation on their course work?
Homeschool educators wishing to label their courses "AP" must email apcourseaudit@epiconline.org for instructions on how to participate in the AP Course Audit.
Can a dual-enrollment or IB course also be labeled "AP?"
The teachers of these courses and the principals at the schools providing these dual-enrollment/IB opportunities to their students must complete and submit the AP Course Audit form and syllabus for review. If authorized, these courses may be labeled "AP." The "AP" designation can only be used with the official AP course titles, but if your current course title differs from the official AP course title, you can certainly continue to use your current course title and then insert the official AP course title in brackets either before or after your own course title.
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