### OFFICE OF THE ASSISTANT SECRETARY

| The Office for  Civil Rights in the U.S. Department of Education issues this guidance in order  to provide State educational agencies and local educational agencies with  information to ensure that when students are provided the option to participate  in Advanced Placement and other challenging academic courses and programs, access  to, admission into, and the administration of such courses are provided on a nondiscriminatory  basis consistent with Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and its  implementing regulations  at 34 C.F.R. Part 100.

This guidance  represents the Department's current thinking on this topic. It does not create  or confer any rights for or on any person. This guidance does not impose any  requirements beyond those required under applicable law and regulations.

If you are interested  in commenting on this guidance, please email us your comment at OCR@ed.gov or  write to us at the following address: Assistant  Secretary for Civil Rights, 400 Maryland Avenue, SW, Potomac Center  Plaza, Washington, D.C. 20202-1100. |
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MAY 22, 2008

Dear Colleague:

I am writing to clarify how  Federal civil rights laws apply to local educational agencies (LEAs) that provide students the option  to participate in Advanced Placement (AP) courses.**1** As you work to ensure that our Nation's  students are academically prepared to compete successfully in the expanding global economy, it  is advantageous for students to be exposed to, and complete, a rigorous secondary school  curriculum. LEAs**2** across the country are increasingly providing students the opportunity to  enroll in AP courses, which are an important component of this rigorous curriculum.  Notwithstanding the educational advantages of AP course completion, however, a  third of American public high schools--many serving disadvantaged or minority students--do not currently offer AP courses.**3**

As you know, the  Office for Civil Rights (OCR) in the United States Department of Education (the  Department) is responsible for enforcing Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of  1964 (Title VI) and its implementing regulations at 34 C.F.R.  Part 100. Title VI and its regulations prohibit discrimination based on race, color, or national origin by recipients of  Federal financial assistance.

The Title VI regulations  state, in relevant part:
No person in the United States  shall, on the ground of race, color, or national origin be excluded from  participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be otherwise subjected to discrimination under any program to which this part  applies.
34 C.F.R. § 100.3 (a).

To promote educational excellence  for all students and to ensure nondiscrimination in secondary school curricula, the Department  will vigorously enforce the nondiscrimination requirements of Title VI as they relate to the provision of AP  courses. Although the Department recognizes the importance of rigorous high school curricula, including AP courses, for  all students, the nondiscrimination  statutes enforced by OCR (specifically, for purposes of this letter, Title VI)  do not themselves require that an LEA  offer AP courses. However, if an LEA offers AP courses to its students, Title  VI requires that AP courses be made available on a nondiscriminatory basis, without  regard to a student's race, color, or national origin. If the Department determines  that a recipient discriminated against  students based on their race, color, or national origin in the provision of AP courses at high schools, in the  admission to AP courses at high schools that offer these courses, or in the  administration of AP courses, the Department will make a finding that the recipient has violated Title VI.**4** These violations may result in  enforcement action if not corrected voluntarily. A more detailed discussion of the application of  the Title VI regulations to AP courses is  provided further below.

**Importance of AP Courses**

*The Department of Education's Strategic  Plan 2007-2012 *
*No Child *
*Left Behind, *
*Elementary *
*and Secondary Education Act of 1965, *
*No Child Left Behind, *

The impact of AP access has been  studied in recent years by the Department and the College Board, among other entities. An  academically intense high school curriculum that includes AP or other rigorous courses is  highly predictive of college completion.**5** Students who complete at least one AP examination are more  likely than their peers to complete a bachelor's degree in four years or less.**6** Students who  enroll in AP courses also have higher college grade point averages and four-year graduation rates than students who do  not enroll in AP courses.**7**

**Participation in AP Courses**

  Completion of high school with the  skills to succeed in college is increasingly critical to the success of our  Nation's youth, and national data show increasing student participation in AP courses. AP courses allow students  to take college-level curricula while in high school. Currently, 37 AP courses are  offered in 22 academic subject areas. According to the College Board, 15,505 secondary schools  in the United States (U.S.) offered AP courses during the 2006-2007 school year, and  between 2002 and 2007, the total number of high school graduates who took an AP exam increased  from 473,330, or 18.1% of high school graduates, to 698,182, or 24.9% of high school graduates.**8**  Importantly, the College Board has also found that the number of AP exams taken by minority  students is increasing as well. Since 1995, the number of AP exams taken by  Native American students has doubled, the number of AP exams taken by African American students has  tripled, and the number of AP exams taken by Latino students has quadrupled.**9**

However, although AP participation rates among  minority students are increasing, minority students are often underrepresented in such courses. For  example, according to the Department's most recent Civil Rights Data Collection (CRDC), during  the 2005-2006 school year, African American students represented 13.4% of graduating seniors  in U.S. public schools, but represented only 7.9% of students enrolled in AP courses. Similarly  during the 2005-2006 school  year, American Indian and Alaska Native students represented 1.1% of graduating  seniors in U.S.  public schools, but represented only 0.5% of students enrolled in AP courses.**10**  In terms of the  students who took AP exams during the 2006-2007 school year, according to the  College Board,  African American students represented 14.0% of graduating seniors in U.S.  public schools, yet they comprised 7.4%  of AP exam takers. During the 2006-2007 school year, Native American and Alaska Native students represented  1.1% of graduating seniors in U.S. public schools, but they comprised 0.6% of AP exam takers.**11**

Generally, statistical data alone are not  sufficient to support a finding of a violation, but may be sufficient to  warrant an investigation when presented in conjunction with other facts.  These facts may include--but are not limited  to--the recipient’s policies and procedures for determining admission to AP  courses and the recipient’s actual practices in this regard.  Specific applications of the Title VI  regulations to the provision of, admission into, and administration of AP  courses are discussed below.

**Providing AP Courses at High Schools**

In relation to the provision of AP courses, discrimination  prohibited by Title VI and its regulations includes denying, on the basis of  race, color, or national origin, an individual any service, financial aid, or  other benefit provided under the program.   34 C.F.R. § 100.3 (b) (i).    For example, if an LEA decides to provide AP courses, in  determining which high schools will offer these courses, LEAs may not implement an AP  program in a manner that denies students the opportunity to participate based  on the student’s race, color, or national origin.  Therefore, LEAs may not refuse to provide AP  courses at a school based on the race, color, or national origin of the  students enrolled in that school.

**Admission to AP courses**

High schools use various methods to enroll  students in AP courses.  For example,  some high schools allow students to “self-select” AP courses.  For these schools, guidance policies or  practices should not guide or “steer” students either into, or out of, AP  programs based on a student’s race, color, or national origin.  Other high schools use or consider factors such  as course prerequisites, prior academic performance, or teacher or counselor  recommendations in determining or influencing which students may enroll in AP  courses.  Regardless of the factors  considered, such AP admission processes must not treat students differently  based on a student’s race, color, or national origin.  Each LEA is responsible for ensuring that  Title VI is not violated in the LEA’s schools and programs, including ensuring  non-discrimination in AP courses.

**Administration of AP courses**

In the area of administration of AP courses, Title VI and  its regulations prohibit restricting an individual in any way in the enjoyment  of any advantage or privilege enjoyed by others under the program on the basis  of race, color, or national origin.  34  C.F.R. § 100.3 (b) (iv).  Thus, as in  other courses, students in AP courses must not be discriminated against based  on their race, color, or national origin, in any aspect of AP course  administration.  For example, students in  AP courses must not be subject to illegal discrimination in the allocation of  books, laboratory equipment, or other course-related resources, in the  qualifications or credentials of their AP course teachers, in determining  grades for the course, or in other aspects of the administration of AP  courses.  Title VI and its regulations  also prohibit subjecting a student to segregation or separate treatment in any  matter related to the student’s receipt of any service, financial aid, or other  benefit under the program.  34 C.F.R. §  100.3 (b) (iii).  Thus, students enrolled  in AP courses may not be subject to segregation or separate treatment on the  basis of race, color, or national origin.

The regulations also prohibit providing, on the  basis of race, color, or national origin, any service, financial aid, or other  benefit to an individual that is different, or is provided in a different  manner, from that provided to others under the program.  34 C.F.R. § 100.3 (b) (ii).  For example, in order to take the AP  examination at the end of an AP course, students must pay a fee.  Because this fee could potentially discourage  students from participating in the AP program, many SEAs and LEAs voluntarily  provide AP examination fee subsidies to students.  Funds for some of these “subsidy” programs  are supplemented by grants awarded through the U.S. Department of Education’s  AP Test Fee Program authorized at 20 U.S.C. § 6534.  In most such “subsidy” programs, AP fee  subsidies are provided based on the financial need of the student.  Although Title VI does not require LEAs to  provide such fee subsidies, if fee subsidies are provided, they must be  provided in a manner that does not discriminate based on race, color, or  national origin.

Providing educational opportunities to all students is  critical to the prosperity of our Nation.   To ensure that students have the skills necessary to compete in the  highly competitive global economy, I urge you to evaluate whether your LEA--at  the district and individual school level--is providing equal educational  opportunities to all students, including in the provision of AP courses.  I encourage you to use the information  provided in this letter to continue to evaluate whether your LEA is in  compliance with these anti-discrimination requirements.  Upon request, OCR provides technical  assistance to help LEAs to voluntarily comply with the civil rights laws  enforced by OCR.  If you, or your agency,  school district, or school, need additional information or assistance on these  or other matters, please do not hesitate to contact the OCR enforcement office  that serves your state or territory.  The  contact information for each office is available  at: http://wdcrobcolp01.ed.gov/CFAPPS/OCR/contactus.cfm.

Thank you for your cooperation and assistance in this  important matter.

| Sincerely  yours,   |
|---------------------|
|                |
| Stephanie J. Monroe |
| Assistant Secretary |

**1** Although this letter  focuses on access to AP courses in high  schools, if discrimination based on race,  color, or national origin occurs in other programs that  provide rigorous academic curricula--for example, International Baccalaureate (IB) programs--the same Title VI provisions would apply.  Additionally, the same Title VI provisions would apply to all other  secondary schools that offer such courses.
**2** This letter focuses on AP courses provided by LEAs. However, when State educational agencies (SEAs) are involved in the provision of, determining admission to, or the  administration of AP courses, the same Title  VI provisions would apply.
**3** Planty, M., Provasnik,  S., and Daniel, B. (2007). *High School Coursetaking: Findings from The Condition of Education  2007*(NCES  2007-065).  U.S. Department of Education. Washington, DC: National Center  for Education Statistics; U.S. Department of Education, *Strategic**Plan for Fiscal Years 2007-12,*Washington, D.C., 2007; The College  Board, Press Release: Increase in Advanced Placement Student Success  Achieved in All 50 States (2006); The College Board,  Advanced Placement Report to the Nation 2006, 10 (2006).

**4** If a district is operating under a court  desegregation order, the terms and conditions of the court's desegregation   order effectively establish the standard for racial nondiscrimination  for the district. Where such a court order   addresses AP courses, OCR,  therefore, must defer to the court regarding the race discrimination aspects of  AP courses.

**5** Adelman, C. *The Toolbox Revisited: Paths to  Degree Completion From High School Through  College.*  Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of Education, 2006.

**6** Wayne Camara, The College Board, College  Persistence, Graduation, and Remediation (2003).

**7** The College Board, Advanced Placement Report to  the Nation 2007, 12-13 (2007) (citing Linda Hargrove, Donn Godin, &  Barbara Dodd).

**8** The College Board, AP Report to the Nation 2008,  2, 47 (2008).

**9** The College Board, AP Participation by  Underserved Students at U.S. Public Schools, 1995-2005 (2006).

**10** United States Department of Education, Office  for Civil Rights, *2006 Civil Rights Data Collection,*available at www.ed.gov/ocr. These numbers are national projections for the 2006 CRDC. The  projections are based on a rolling  stratified sample of districts and schools, and on reported data from  approximately 6,000 districts that responded to the survey.

**11** The College Board, AP  Report to the Nation 2008, 9 (2008).

  
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