BATON ROUGE, La. — The Louisiana Board of Elementary and Secondary Education (BESE) is celebrating a milestone for the state’s high school students. Since 2019, Louisiana has made the largest gain among states in the share of Advanced Placement (AP) Exams earning a qualifying score, according to data released by the College Board.
In 2026, 69.1 percent of AP Exams taken by Louisiana public school students earned a score of 3 or higher, compared with 37.4 percent in 2019. That 31.7 percentage point increase is more than twice the national rate of growth over the same period. Louisiana is now 2.2 percentage points below the national average, compared with a 20.5-point gap in 2019.
“These results represent more than a rising score rate. They represent students discovering what they are capable of and gaining a stronger start toward their goals after graduation,” said BESE President Simone Champagne. “BESE celebrates the students who took on college-level work and the educators and families who supported them. We want every student, in every part of Louisiana, to have access to opportunities that prepare them for what comes next.”
Louisiana public school students earned 21,383 qualifying AP Exam scores in 2026, up from 19,653 in 2025 and 11,118 in 2019. A total of 13,244 students earned a qualifying score on at least one exam this year, a 6.3 percent increase from 2025. Because a student may take more than one AP Exam, the number of qualifying scores is higher than the number of students who earned one.
A score of 3, 4, or 5 may qualify a student for college credit, depending on the policies of the college or university they attend. AP courses give students the opportunity to study college-level material while still in high school.
Individual results for school systems will be released later this year.
About BESE
The Louisiana State Board of Elementary and Secondary Education (BESE) is the administrative body for Louisiana’s schools. BESE adopts regulations and enacts policies governing the state’s elementary and secondary schools in partnership with the Louisiana Department of Education (LDOE).