The Los Angeles Unified School District is committed to ensuring that every student has access to rigorous, college-level coursework. This commitment is already yielding positive results, as recent data shows an increase in the number of district students enrolling in Advanced Placement (AP) courses.

According to district officials, AP course enrollment increased 12 percent since the 2020-21 school year, including a seven percent rise from 2023-24 to 2024-25. As a result, over a five-year period, the district’s participation in AP courses grew by 50 percent. All student groups experienced higher participation and students with disabilities experienced the most significant increase, with exam participation rising by 135 percent since 2020-21.

Not only has the nation’s second-largest school district increased its participation in AP courses, but student performance on these exams has also improved. The number of students achieving a qualifying score of three or higher has risen by 124 percent, growing from approximately 14,000 to over 31,000 qualifying scores between 2020-21 and 2024-25. 

Performance gains were consistent across student groups. From 2020-21 to 2024-25, every subgroup increased the percentage of exams earning a score of three or higher by between eight and 19 percentage points. Five of seven AP subject areas showed gains in the percentage of students earning qualifying scores over the four-year period.

“In Los Angeles Unified, we believe that when you raise the floor of performance, the ceiling of opportunity expands,” said Los Angeles Schools Superintendent Alberto Carvalho in a press release. “Over the past several years, we have expanded access to Advanced Placement courses so that more students have a seat at the table, regardless of their zip code or background. Historically, when participation increases, performance declines. In our case, the opposite happened. More students enrolled, more students took the exams, and more students earned qualifying scores than ever before. That is equity and excellence working together.”

According to district officials, nearly one in three Los Angeles Unified high school students, 29 percent, are now enrolled in at least one AP course.

“Because of the hard work of the district’s leadership, teachers, counselors, principals, students, and families, LAUSD is redefining who has a seat at the Advanced Placement table,” said David Coleman, College Board CEO, which administers the AP program. “They’re leading the way in showing that AP is not reserved for a small group of elite students, but available to all who demonstrate readiness and seek the challenge. This matters because taking even a single AP course can change a student’s trajectory.”

 District officials attribute the positive results to the school system's efforts to expand access to AP courses and eliminate cost barriers for the exams. The district fully covers the cost of AP exams for all students.