Burnham and Hewitt (1967)
In a study of Yale University freshmen and sophomores, Burnham and Hewitt found that AP students achieved higher first-year grades than did the average matriculant. They also noted that there was a positive relationship between freshman and sophomore course grades and the level of the corresponding AP Exam grade.

Chamberlin et al., (1978)
Using a matched-group design, these researchers focused on AP and non-AP student achievement differences at Indiana University. This study compared groups matched on total Scholastic Aptitude Scores. It found that AP students at graduation had completed more course hours per semester, had completed more course hours at the junior and senior levels, and had attained higher grade point cumulative averages than did their non-AP counterparts.

Simms (1982)
Simms studied students at the University of Michigan across several subject areas. AP students received higher course grades than non-AP students in all subjects. Simms goes on to state; "These data suggest that AP students receive better grades than the non-AP students in the first course beyond the introductory sequence. This finding leads one to believe that AP students receive ample preparation in their high school AP courses. They do not seem to be at an academic disadvantage because they did not take the introductory course work at the university."

Casserly (1986)
Casserly examined the performance of nearly 300 AP students at nine colleges. After examining the course grades of all the students, Casserly concluded that AP students who were placed out of introductory courses did better in the first upper-level course than those students who took the introductory course.

Willingham and Morris (1986)
In a comprehensive longitudinal study of matched students at nine colleges, Willingham and Morris analyzed the four-year undergraduate experience of 4,814 students from 717 different secondary schools. Of the group, 1,115 were AP students and 3,699 were non-AP students. They were compared in terms of background characteristics, special achievements in secondary schools, goals and interests, experience in college, and measures of success. The results showed that AP students:

• were superior, at the time of entry to college, on all pre-admission measures of ability and achievement except athletic accomplishments;
• were more likely to specialize in majors with more demanding grading standards, and to graduate with a double major;
• performed better academically through four years;
• did as well academically as would be expected given their superior ability and record of secondary school achievement; and
• were superior in terms of broad criteria of college success, such as "leadership" and "significant accomplishments."

These differences were generally comparable for men and women, for students at more and less selective colleges, and for examinees in the various AP subject areas. In each subject area, AP students took more college coursework. The AP grade was found to be a useful predictor of college performance; those with an average AP grade of 4 or higher were twice as likely as the lower-grade group to have a B average or higher in the freshman year. Overall, Willingham and Morris found that all previously described differences between AP and non-AP students were accentuated for those AP students with higher AP Exam grades.

Morgan and Crone (1993)
Morgan and Crone examined the performance of more than 3,000 AP students within the University of California system who were given advanced placement in biology, calculus and chemistry. Although the study was limited to first-year courses, the data indicated that AP students continued to pursue knowledge in the subject areas of the exam at greater rates than other students. Furthermore, for most levels of coursework, students with AP grades of at least 3 received higher grades in the courses into which they were placed than those of non-AP students.

Morgan and Ramist (1998)
Morgan and Ramist have produced the most definitive work available concerning the performance of those students in upper-level courses who were granted AP credit. The course grades of students at 21 colleges who were placed out of introductory courses were compared with those of students who took the prerequisite introductory courses. Course grades through the second and third year were provided by a representative set of 20 of the 70 colleges that received the largest number of AP grades in 1991. One small college was added to make up the sample of 21 institutions. The participating colleges were:

Boston College
Brigham Young University
Carnegie Mellon University
Clemson University
College of William and Mary
Cornell College (IA)
Cornell University
Duke University
Michigan State University
Pennsylvania State University
Stanford University
Tulane University
University of California-Davis
University of California-Irvine
University of Georgia
University of Illinois
University of Texas-Austin
University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill
University of Utah
University of Virginia
Yale University

The course grades of AP students who received advanced placement were compared with those of other students. The course catalogs and student records were used to determine the introductory-level courses for which AP grades could earn credit and for the upper-level courses into which those with sufficient AP grades could earn placement. Advanced placement ranged from the second courses for many AP Exams to the fifth course for the foreign language exams. Data for similar course levels were aggregated across colleges to produce multi-college estimates of student performance.

Table 5.1 provides a summary of the findings. Shown in the table are the course levels associated with each AP Exam, the number of AP students placed into the course, the number of contributing courses, and a comparison of the course grade average of students earning each of the AP grades of 3 to 5 with students who took the prerequisite course.

The entire Morgan and Ramist (1998) report is available as a PDF (portable document format) file. To view this file, you will need a copy of Adobe's free Acrobat Reader. If you don't currently have it on your system, download and install the Acrobat Reader, then return to this page to retrieve the files from the "More..." box below. If you have problems, take a quick look at our troubleshooting hints.

Morgan and Maneckshana (2000)
Building on college data from Morgan and Ramist (1998), Morgan and Maneckshana investigated the number of courses taken by AP students in the discipline of the AP Exams, the eventual college major and minor of the AP students, the overall GPA, and the time to graduation of students who took AP Exams. The investigation found that for all but three of the exams, AP students were more likely to take a course in the discipline than other students. For 10 exams, AP students were more than twice as likely to take a course in the discipline. With the exception of the AP English Language and Composition Exam, AP students took more courses in the discipline.

The Morgan and Maneckshana (2000) report (entitled "AP Students in College: An Investigation of Their Course-Taking Patterns and College Majors") is available as a PDF (portable document format) file. Remember that if you wish to view this file, you will need a copy of Adobe's free Acrobat Reader. If you don't currently have it on your system, download and install the Acrobat Reader, then return to this page to retrieve the files from the "More..." box below. If you have problems, take a quick look at our troubleshooting hints.