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Nashville, TN—The Tennessee Department of Education announced Wednesday a request for applications from vendors to develop and support a new Advanced Placement (AP) Access for All program designed to help more students have the opportunity to earn college credit while in high school.
The AP Access for All program will help open access to students across the state by providing AP courses virtually, allowing them to enroll in AP courses not currently offered at their home high school, and reducing financial barriers to taking AP exams. Further, the program will provide training and professional development to support both current and prospective AP teachers.
“For many students, AP courses are a pathway to earn college credit, but earning college credits while in high school is an opportunity that should be available to all students,” said Commissioner Penny Schwinn. “This new grant will provide more low income and rural Tennessee students with access to AP courses while eliminating financial barriers to taking the AP exam, and will invest in our teachers to deepen their content knowledge and help them promote the benefits of postsecondary readiness to their students.”
The grant award to develop this program is secured through federal Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund (ESSER) funding. One grantee will be selected through the competitive application process to manage the AP Access for All program. Additionally, the grantee will support the development of the course curriculum for AP course expansion as well as manage the test registration and administration process with students’ home high school staff.
Responses to the request for applications are due April 9. The application and additional information can be found here.
For additional information about Tennessee’s advanced placement courses, click here. For Tennessee Department of Education media inquiries, contact Edu.MediaInquiries@tn.gov.