State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson announced that California was fifth in the United States in the percentage of 2015 graduates who earned a score of three or higher on advanced placement (AP) exams.

Among California graduates, 30.2 percent of seniors earned a score of three or more on an AP exam, which can allow them to earn college credit, compared with 18.6 percent in 2005. For 2015, California students’ AP exam performance is 7.8 percentage points above the national average of 22.4 percent. Last year, California was sixth in the nation in this category.

“I’m so pleased that California continues to be among the national leaders in the percentage of students scoring competitively on rigorous Advanced Placement tests,” Torlakson said. “It shows we are making great progress in our efforts to encourage students to take courses that will challenge them, give them a greater understanding of a wide variety of subject matters and help prepare them for college and 21st century careers.”

State education officials attribute California’s continued success to a sustained statewide focus on expanded college-going opportunities for students, particularly for students from underserved communities.

California is also outpacing the national average in advancing opportunities for students who come from low-income families. Of the 56.3 percent of the state’s students eligible for the free or reduced-price lunch program in the class of 2015, 44.2 percent took at least one AP exam. Nationally, 51.3 percent of U.S. public school students were low income and 29.8 percent of them took at least one AP exam.

California receives federal funding to pay a portion of the AP exams for income-eligible public school students. For the May 2015 testing cycle, the California Department of Education (CDE) reimbursed $10,078,333 to 393 local educational agencies for 245,813 AP exams for income-eligible students. End-of-course AP exams are usually given in May.

For more information, visit cde.ca.gov/ci/gs/ps/apgen.asp.