While statewide proficiency scores remain stagnant, Advanced Placement exam scores and enrollment are on the rise in Delaware.
SAT Essay proficiency was at 37% in 2024, according to this year’s data from the Delaware Department of Education. It also reports SAT Math proficiency at 18%.
At the same time, there was an 11.3% increase in the number of Delaware students taking AP exams and a 27.9% increase in the number of students with a score of 3 or higher, on a scale of 1 to 5.
Delaware’s Higher Education Office student advisement associate Leigh Weldin said, regardless of COVID’s impact on education, Delaware has more and more students succeeding in AP courses.
“I think a lot of that, really, is moving that narrative that AP is only for certain students, and we are finding that that narrative was incorrect,” Weldin said.
According to the Higher Education Office, there has been a 15% increase in the number of Asian students taking at least one exam compared to 2022, an 87% increase for Black students, a 48% increase for Hispanic students and a 24% increase for white students.
For every one of those groups, each also saw more scores of 3 or higher this year as compared to last year.
“I think that that is a statement to our state and our commitment that we are investing in students and their post secondary, and that AP is a solid opportunity and option for that.”
Weldin says these increases are in part a result of the Department of Education’s work toward making AP courses accessible to more students through financial aid.
The Higher Education Office offers students funds so no student with financial need pays more than $5 for an AP exam.
Starting in August, House Bill 116 requires all public institutions in Delaware to accept AP exam scores of 3 or higher to count for credit. Previously, higher education institutions had the option to decide which courses they would accept, if any.
