After the debut of free AP tests in the 2023-2024 school year, MCPS decided to continue to waive the $90 fee for the exam. Although the initial registration price is gone, there is now a monetary consequence for skipping a test. Students who decide not to take an AP exam will have to pay a $40 fee.

With this initiative, MCPS continues to work hard to establish a friendly and highly achieving community, and to stop costs from hindering students’ ability to take the exam. If students work hard and want to challenge themselves, MCPS’s policy will give the larger population a chance to do so.

“We have a lot of students in the county who can’t afford to take AP exams, so they felt if they couldn’t take the exam, then why should they take the class?” Assistant Principal Marjorie Cohen said. “We also want all students to have access to rigorous classes. They’re also really expensive exams so some kids who want to take lots of exams were having to pick, thinking I can [financially] only take three exams but I’m taking five classes, so they were picking which tests to take and we didn’t want kids to be in that situation.”

Before the program was in place, less fortunate students and their families opted out of taking AP exams due to exam fees. Also, with the cost, students may have felt an added pressure to do well or they might feel like they wasted money and got no benefits from the exam.

“The exam being free makes it less stressful in my opinion as students taking many AP classes don’t worry about having to pay almost $100 for every AP test they have to take. Instead of worrying about the cost of each exam, students can now feel free to take whatever APs they desire and don’t have to worry about paying for them. This makes a bigger difference as it will ultimately lead to students taking more AP exams,” sophomore Anup Tiwari said.

Teachers also support the free AP exam due to improving students’ mental health.

¨I think providing the exams for free will relieve some students of the stress of paying, especially those with greater financial needs. With that in mind, yes, I think less stress will help students focus on the content and preparation,” AP Government teacher Tobias Meier said.