ACE Recommendations
Guidelines for defining your institution's credit and placement policy
Founded in 1918, the American Council on Education (ACE) is the nation's unifying voice for higher education. ACE serves as a consensus leader on key higher education issues and seeks to influence public policy through advocacy, research, and program initiatives.
In its most recent review of the AP Program, ACE recommended, as a general rule, that colleges and universities award credit for AP scores of 3 or higher on any AP Examination. ACE also noted that the practice of granting provisional credit for a score of 2 is becoming more frequent because comparability studies have shown that many of these students may be qualified. The credit is made permanent if the student satisfies another criterion, such as successfully completing the next course in the discipline.
AP Course Descriptions, found on the home page for each course, may also be a useful resource for determining credit and placement policies. Course home pages can be found here .
Summary of ACE Credit Recommendations for the AP Exams
| AP Examination | Minimum Score for Awarding Credit | Number of Semester Hours |
|---|---|---|
| Art History | 3 | 6 |
| Art/Studio(Drawing or General Portfolio) | 3 | 6 |
| Biology | 3 | 8 |
| Calculus AB | 3 | 3 to 4 |
| Calculus BC | 3 | 6 to 8 |
| Chemistry | 3 | 8 |
| Chinese Language and Culture | 3 | 6 |
| Computer Science A | 3 | 3 to 4 |
| Computer Science AB* | 3 | 6 to 8 |
| Economics: Macro | 3 | 3 |
| Economics: Micro | 3 | 3 |
| English Language and Composition | 3 | 6 |
| English Literature and Composition | 3 | 6 |
| Environmental Science | 3 | 4 |
| European History | 3 | 6 |
| French Language | 3 | 6 to 8 |
| French Literature * | 3 | 6 to 12 |
| German Language | 3 | 6 to 8 |
| Government & Politics: Comparative | 3 | 3 |
| Government & Politics: United States | 3 | 3 |
| Human Geography | 3 | 3 |
| Italian Language and Culture** | 3 | 6 to 8 |
| Japanese Language and Culture | 3 | 6 |
| Latin: Vergil | 3 | 6 to 8 |
| Latin Literature* | 3 | 6 to 8 |
| Music Theory | 3 | 6 |
| Physics B | 3 | 6 to 8 |
| Physics C: Mechanics | 3 | 4 |
| Physics C: Electricity and Magnetism | 3 | 4 |
| Psychology | 3 | 3 |
| Spanish Language | 3 | 6 to 8 |
| Spanish Literature | 3 | 6 to 12 |
| Statistics | 3 | 3 |
| U.S. History | 3 | 6 |
| World History | 3 | 6 |
*These courses have been discontinued beginning with the 2009-2010 school year.
** Italian Language and Culture was suspended following the May 2009 exam administration. It will be reinstated in fall 2011.