Grant to Aid Low-Income Hoosier Students

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The Indiana Department of Education has received a federal grant of more than $470,000 to cover part of the fees for low-income students to take advanced placement tests. The funding is part of nearly $30 million in grants for 42 states from the U.S. Department of Education.

The U.S. Department of Education today announced the award of more than $28.8 million in grants to 42 states to cover a portion of the fees charged to low-income students for taking advanced placement (AP) tests.

Based on the anticipated number of test-takers and other factors, the grants under the Advanced Placement Test Fee Program are expected to be sufficient to pay all but $10 of the cost of each advanced placement exam taken by low-income students. States may opt to require students to pay a portion of the costs.

“This Administration has taken unprecedented steps to boost college- and career readiness for our young people, especially first-generation college goers,” U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan said. “Participation in Advanced Placement courses gives these students a jump start in college by challenging them to develop stronger study and critical-thinking skills. These grants will eliminate some financial roadblocks and enable more minority students to gain access to rigorous AP courses, which will help them succeed in today’s knowledge economy.”

By subsidizing test fees for low-income students, the program is intended to encourage those students to take AP tests and obtain college credit for high school courses, reducing the time and cost required to complete a postsecondary degree.

The grants can be used to help pay for low-income students taking approved AP tests administered by the College Board, the International Baccalaureate Organization and Cambridge International Examinations. Levels of funding per state were determined on the basis of state estimates of the numbers of tests that would be taken by low-income students. Following is a list of the grant recipients.

The Advanced Placement Test Fee grants program is administered by the Office of Elementary and Secondary Education. For additional information on the program and these new awards, visit http://www2.ed.gov/programs/apfee/index.html.

Source: The White House