Dual Credit vs. Advanced Placement
Dual Credit and Advanced Placement (AP) are two educational programs that enable high school students to earn college credits while still enrolled in high school. Dual credit, or dual enrollment, allows students to take college-level courses that satisfy both high school and college graduation requirements. These classes are often taught at community colleges, four-year universities, or high schools, and can be taught by college instructors or qualified high school teachers. On the other hand, AP courses are high school classes taught at a college level, focusing on preparing students for standardized exams administered by the College Board. To earn college credit through AP, students must achieve a certain score on the exam, typically a 3 or higher.
Both programs have seen increased enrollment since 2000, and their acceptance is determined by individual colleges, with public institutions generally being more accommodating of dual credits. While AP courses can enhance high school GPA and may provide a competitive edge in college admissions, dual credits often reflect a student's ability to handle college-level work. Ultimately, the choice between dual credit and AP depends on a student's specific goals, whether that be to accumulate transferable credits, gain exposure to advanced subjects, or strengthen college applications. Students may also choose to pursue a combination of both programs to maximize their educational opportunities.
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Dual Credit vs. Advanced Placement
Dual credit, also known as dual enrollment, and Advanced Placement (AP) are two programs that allow high school students to take college or college-level courses. High school students take these courses not only to earn college credit but also to become better prepared for college and to gain an edge in the college admission process.
Dual-credit courses are college-level courses that allow high school students to earn credit toward both high school and college graduation requirements. AP courses are high school courses taught at a college level. Students in AP courses need to pass an exam administered by the College Board and receive a certain score in order to earn college credit. The score required for a student to receive credit is at the discretion of individual colleges; most require a minimum score of 3 or 4 out of a possible 5. Enrollment in dual-credit and AP courses has greatly increased since 2000, and colleges vary on their policies for accepting credit earned through these programs.
An additional program, the International Baccalaureate (IB) program, helps prepare students for college by fostering critical-thinking skills. IB, like AP, is an exam-based program, with a central governing body administering external exams in individual subjects. Some colleges offer course credit for IB scores, but the program is not as widely recognized as AP. For a student to participate in the IB program, he or she must attend a high school that has been authorized as an IB school.
Background
Dual-credit courses are primarily offered at community colleges, although they may also be taught at high schools, four-year universities, or online. Most are taught by college instructors. A small percentage are taught by high school teachers who work in conjunction with the sponsoring college.
Not all colleges accept dual credits. College-level courses appear on a student’s high school transcript. It is then up to the college where the student is enrolling to decide whether to accept those credits. In general, public colleges and universities tend to accept credits earned through in-state schools, while private institutions tend to be more discriminating. Competitive colleges and elite universities are least likely to accept dual credits.
High school students need to meet their district’s eligibility requirements in order to enroll in dual-credit courses. Requirements may include a specific grade point average (GPA), permission from the high school’s principal, or passing a section of a college placement test. A number of states and school districts pay the tuition and book costs for high school students to take college courses, while other states offer courses at a discounted rate.
AP courses are high school courses that are taught at a college level to prepare students to take the College Board’s AP exams. The College Board offers exams in more than thirty-five subjects, including sciences, math, computer science, history, social sciences, English language or literature, several different languages, and the arts. Classes are taught by high school teachers who may have received specialized training.
In order to receive college credit for AP courses, students must receive a certain minimum score, typically 3 or higher, on the corresponding AP exam. Not all colleges accept credit for passing AP exams. Many elite and competitive schools only give credit for scores of 4 or 5, and some do not award any credit for AP exams at all.
Eligibility for AP courses depends on a school’s guidelines. Some high schools require students to have a minimum GPA of 3.0 or a recommendation from a teacher. There is no cost to take an AP course, but there is a fee for each AP exam. In 2025, the College Board charged $99 for each AP exam taken in the United States or Canada and $129 for exams administered elsewhere. High schools may charge additional fees for administering the exams. However, the College Board offers fee reductions and rebates for students experiencing financial hardship, and some states and school districts either partially or fully subsidize the cost to schools and students.
Overview
Both dual-credit and AP programs help students build the skills necessary to succeed in college. By allowing them to earn college credits while still in high school, such programs offer students the opportunity to complete a degree at an accelerated pace, pursue a minor or a double major, or take advantage of opportunities to study abroad. In addition, both programs (as well as the IB program) help college applicants set themselves apart during the college admissions process.
The decision between AP and dual credit depends on the individual student’s goals and circumstances. AP classes can give students an advantage in the college admissions process. Many high schools score AP grades on a weighted scale, so that an A, for example, may count for 4.5 or 5.0 points instead of the usual 4.0. This adds points to a student’s overall GPA and can boost the student to the top percentile of the class, two factors often considered by college admissions departments. In comparison, dual-credit course work does not affect a student’s class ranking, but it does appear on the student’s transcript, which reflects the student’s ability to do college work.
Traditionally, many colleges gave more weight to AP exams than dual-credit courses because AP exams are standardized and nationally recognized, while college admissions offices often lacked information about the quality and content of dual-credit courses. Since the early 2000s, such concerns have declined, and many colleges—particularly public institutions, such as state universities—accept dual credits, making dual-credit courses just as attractive as AP courses. In fact, as of February 2015, twenty-four states had passed legislation requiring public postsecondary schools to accept dual credits, although most restrict this to credits earned in the same state. For students planning to attend a private or out-of-state college, AP courses may be a better choice than dual-credit courses.
In some cases, a student may accumulate enough college credits in high school to skip one or more semesters, allowing the student to enter college as a sophomore or even a junior instead of a freshman and thereby reducing the overall tuition cost. When this is a goal, the best program may be the one that offers the greatest number of applicable and transferable credit-earning courses.
For some students, the main reason to take accelerated courses in high school is to become better prepared for college. For these students, AP classes may meet their needs better than dual credit. AP classes typically offer small class sizes, excellent teachers, and a challenging but academically supportive environment. On the other hand, dual-credit programs offer the advantage of courses beyond those included in the AP program. While AP courses tend to be introductory classes on core subjects, dual-credit courses can be on any subject, enabling students to take courses in more diverse, advanced, or specialized subjects. Students also may choose to combine the two, taking AP courses for introductions to one or more subjects and then enrolling in dual-credit courses to pursue topics of interest in greater depth.
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