Starting next year, students will be able to take AP classes for only a semester instead of the usual year long. Also, students no longer have to take AP US History and AP English III together, like it has been in past years.

The following AP classes will be offered as semester long courses next year: AP English III Language and Composition, AP English IV Literature and Composition, AP US History, AP Government and Politics and AP Statistics.

 “It lets you select more, and gives you more options. If, for example, you were good at English and wanted to take AP English but you weren’t good at History and didn’t want to take it, now you can take just AP English. It gives you more flexibility with your schedule,” said Dr. Margaret Baber, Dean of Students.

The semester long courses allow students to make combinations that work for them. The courses are designed to be either yearlong or semester long, meaning students can take the semester long class or the year long class paired up with another AP year long class.

“Also, after looking at the AP test scores from semester long and year long classes, there is no significant difference in grades on the exams,” Dr. Baber continued.

However, semester long AP classes are not seen as a positive by all. “While I think it’s good that students have options and it gives them more freedom, I think there are negatives too. The increased workload that AP students get is already rigorous, but when you take a semester long course, you have less time to complete the assignments.You also don’t have as much time between classes to digest and understand what you learned.” said Kieran Garvey, junior.

There is question as to whether AP exams would be covered by the state next year. However, this  was the first year when there was no funding available from the state for financially troubled students.

“The federal government has a pool of money for AP testing. They send the money to North Carolina for kids who need the money, but we haven’t gotten money from the state,” said Dr. Baber.

North Carolina was supposed to receive $1,500,000 from the government to be used by the NC Advanced Placement Partnership in the 2013-14 (and 2014-15) school year, as stated in the summary of the budget. Still, Athens Drive has yet to receive any kind of funding for AP testing.

In regards to funding next year, Dr. Baber thinks it is unlikely. “I don’t see anything in the future. The last time the state paid for the exam was 1992. Unless there is some kind of local funding source that will pay, it is unlikely students will not have to pay in the future,” said Baber

However, according to the budget plan for the 2014-15 school year, $12,331,184 is to be used for AP testing fees. The budget also states that starting in the 2014-15 school year students are exempt from paying exam fees.

This contradicting information has lead to uncertainty in the payment for AP exams in the future.